Caleb Spitler - Serving The Kingdom

Being Home

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Well i have been home about two and a half months and it has been interesting adjusting back to life in America. It has had it's difficult parts, but for the most part it has been really, really good. I feel like many of my teamates left their hearts in Nicaragua. And though there are so many people I will always love and pray for, and and some of those kids I could never forget, but I really do love America.

And no not the rich, fat and happy America, but the broken lost and confused America desperately in need of Jesus. Absolutely confimred by God that I was supposed to be in Nicaragua this past year. I am forever changed, and i pray the country is impacted as well.

I WILL BE SPEAKING AT WAUSHARA COMMUNITY CHRUCH AT 7:00pm and DESERT WILL BE SERVED. I will be described my trip along with many pictures.

Now that I'm home I don't want my life to be any less a mission's trip than this past year. I will be returning to Trinity International University in Deerfield Illinois, playing soccer and majoring in Pre-Physical Therapy. My priorities are to #1 Love Jesus #2 Love his people.

You do hear a lot of discouraging things about the church in America these days, but I was just very encouraged as I looked back over the list of people who supported me. I am so encouraged of the remnent God has kept near to his heart, and who are faithfull to be obedient to his will. So many of you gave so sacrificially. I am not only blessed to have had the opportunity to go through the support but strongly encouraged at your hearts to give. Thank you.

Ill be home soon

Tue, 5 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Hey everyone!!! I got my passsword that I lost from my mom so now i can blog. Sorry for the long wait.

God has been speaking to me hard core about pressing on and finishing strong. So thank you for all the prayers. This trip has been great and I have learned so much, and all in all it was really hard. And as most things in life that are hard, it has been really good and important. BUT im still really excited to be coming home!!!!!!!! I cant wait to see all of you (most) you wisconsin people for sure!!! I love you all so much!!!! Seriously I know so many of you have prayed for me so faithfully, which Im sure I will never know how many tough days your prayers got me through or how many times God saved my life because of your prayers or how many people came to know Jesus!!!! So thank you so much!!!

We had a meeting yesterday with a local church about them taking over the prayer house! The meeting went so well because it is a great church whom Ive grown to love and they know it will be so much work, but are eager to get started. When David wanted to build a house of prayer (the Tabernacle) God told him it was good to have it in his heart but he wouldnt be the one to build it. So I am very happy to be leaving it in good hands!!!

Wed morning our team leaves for costa rica. We will be chillin on the beach and debriefing the trip until sunday. then we will say our good byes mon and tues and wed we leave for georgia. All of the other team that went to like africa or other place will be in georgia with us for a day and we will do some stuff with them thurs and then fri I leave for home!!!!!!!! i get into MIL at 9:15 am. Pray for my mom cuz she has been sick. My cell phone hasnt been turning on but i will get a new one soon!!! call me and we will hang out!!! I love you all!!! Praise Jesus!

Kids Ministry

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Kids ministry went so well this week. The kids are starting to get used to praying to God!!!! At first only a couple of the church going kids would pray out loud, but this week was so encouraging because we had all the younger kids hold hands in a circle and pray for the older kids in the middle, then after each older kid laid hands on two younger kids and prayed for them. There were still some laughs and gigels (which I love) of awkwardness, but the older kids are really starting to get it. They are becoming much more confident in praying out loud, in public, and for people!! Seriously I dont know if you have lead kids in praying for one another, but it fills your heart with such joy!!! Seriously so much joy!!! It will be incredible when these kids are leaders in bringing the kingdom, but even now it is just so incredible to watch their hearts!! Then we all jumped around and praised God afterwards. Yeah God!!!

VIDEO!!!!!!!!

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8Zc4ktHeAc

this is a video we made to raise money for the house of prayer

Sorry if the money giving part is confusing-you can SEND checks to the address given, and make them out to Adventure in Missions, with Nicaragua house of prayer in the memo.

Thanks hope you enjoy it. And props to Jd for the tons of hours he put into it

Pray House Stuff

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Well, I won't lie, this week was a little discouraging-under the umbrella of God being amazing and me just being amazed at who he is. Friday night I got so sick, like throwing up all night-seriously I kept getting up to throw up so much that I finally just moved my bed outside. Gross huh. The doc said I had a throat infection-which is pretty much what he always says, but he gave me some antibiotics and I am getting better.

Our team left for spring break (Costa Rica, US, San Juan), but I stayed here because I wanted to work on the prayer house, and another team came in for the week our team was gone.

Then on monday we usually have like 11 of the 12 hours full in the pray house, but no one came monday. Yeah some of the slots are filled by our team members, but I thought the new team would fill in. I don't know what happened, but hopefully I will figure out why people didn't come in.

One amazing thing-the new team leader has offered to give us like 250 to put a roof or floor in!! And the other team has been fun to get to know. And I got to talk to Missy on the phone today and it was really good, cuz we prayed for each other.

Dios es Bueno

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

God is so good all the time!! Our prayer house has started, I just looked at the list af people who have signed up, and we have have well over 100 hours of prayer offered up to God in that place. It is really amazing, we are working on a video so hopefully we can put it up soon, and you all can see how it really works. Most people come and pray for about and hour and rotate out. Some days more people come than others, but its usually about 10 hours a day. We are talking with other churches about getting involved, and we are hoping to put a roof on the building starting next week.

I also do a kids ministry in a really bad part of town. I was leading some kids in prayer, and I had them lay a hand on the person to there right and pray for them, we were sitting in a circle, and these were really little kids like 8-10 year olds. Some of them were to nervous to pray in public like that, but some did pray for one another, and it was really beautiful. From me laying a hand on a kid and praying, them laying hand and praying for each other, and when the circle cam around the last kid put a hand on me and prayed for me. Then we do real worship songs, and the kids really praised GOD!!!

God is so good!

God Heals!

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Ok so sorry everyone for not blogging in a while-I wanted to get that video up, but it takes time so I guess I will write two bloggs this week. And cuz I just remebered a sweet story.

On tuesdays we pray with the church that is in that bad part of town. During the prayer meeting I felt the Holy Spirit in me in a less usual way. So when the meeting was over we stay and pray for people personally. Laura was praying for a lady, who said she had a heart condition and that she had trouble eating. Laura prayed, and I just held my hands out over her and prayed quietly. I asked God to purify her of disease all over and that she would come alive spiritually.

After we were done, she had a confused look on her face, and said she felt fire all over her body. We were like "sweet"! But we had to go. She still had this blank look and kept saying she felt fire all over. Then as we were leaving she said that she felt like she just woke up.

Yesterday she came to the meeting again and said she was healed!! And she was having no troubles eating!! We all gave God praise for it!

Life These Days

Sat, 7 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

So for a ministry I am still working on this prayer house. It looks like we will start putting up a roof soon, and hopefully we will start ten hours of prayer a day withing the week!!! God is doing so much!! I love him with everything I have to give, which isn't that much, but he takes what I have and makes it huge!

The new house situation is pretty great, it's nice to have some space to roam around. I killed my first snake with a matchete!! It was pretty small, but hey. We killed a scorpion last night too. I scored in the soccer game last week too. Oh yeah, and my overhead fan fell on my bed and almost sliced me as I slept. So thats pretty much life! I'm happy as can be, except for the fact that I miss everyone back home!!!

Fire Starters

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This may have been one of the most amazing weeks of my life. So this prayer movement God is starting is going a lot faster than I expected. My leaders came to me and said I had a meeting with the head missionaries that live here, in like a day. Luckily I had been studying prayer revivals throughout history and the bible.

I presented my vision to them, with a confidence and excitement that could only have been from God. I was a little surprised at how deeply they were moved, and how supportive they are. There plans for it are now almost wilder than mine.

I guess I should probably say what this vision is before I go much further. Through prayer, God has installed a vision in my heart for 24/7 365 prayer to come to Granada. This means someone always praying, all day, all night, all week, all year, pretty much till Jesus comes back. It's not crazy, it's actually happening all over the world. It's not a new idea either. I won't get into it, but I encourage you to do some research on it. I studied all the verses on prayer in the bible, and I was again very shocked at what I read.

I want to be clear though, that the bible did not inspire me to this vision. As many of you know I went to IHOP over break, and I did not feel convicted to build a house of prayer. No inspiring sermon, book, or example of other people doing 24/7 365 prayer lead me to this. Through prayer, God burned this vision into my heart. Then as I started doing research, I started believing it to be a reality. The pieces of the puzzle are falling into place in a divine way.

So anyway, the missionaries then told me I would be speaking at a pastor's conference, again in like a day. I don't feel like I am pushing for this, it's more like God is pushing me into this, and I often feel a little afraid, but just being obedient is really fun. So I spoke for about 20 min, at the conference to maybe 60 people. I taught out of Luke 18, and Isaiah 62. It was so cool because I knew this is God's thing so I really didn't care what people thought, I just went for it.

After I spoke, at least three or four pastors mentioned this vision, as the conference went on. The pastor, who was leading the conference, in front of everyone, said that he and his church were at my service. Some other missionaries who were there, half jokingly said they might send a team down to help start this. An electrician who was there said he would wire the whole building, and someone else said they could build roofs, and furniture. Basically there was a lot of hype going on, but hopefully we can turn the hype into action. Seth has been encouraging me to get things going now while people are excited about it. He is so wise.

I had been praying for God to give me another member on my team, who could help me carry this out. Many times I wanted to approach someone, but God had specifically prompted me to wait for the person he picks to approach me. Annie Valenziano recently asked if she could be a part of it. I was so thrilled I wanted to say yes and give her a hug, but like everything about this vision we prayed about it for a few days, and God confirmed it. It is amazing to have a partner, especially someone who graduated high school with a 4.0, and has all these skills that I don't have. Last night I told her all the plans I have, and she wrote them down, and is organizing them, and is prioritizing them. I'm so glad I waited for God to bring the person he chose for this!

This week we also had, our first Nicaraguans, our first two nights of over ten in the prayer room, and our first non-christian!!! -he is now strongly considering Christ, because he said he liked us from the moment he met us, and because he saw how much we enjoy God!!!! WHOOhoooo!!

This morning I am meeting with the pastor, who lead the conference. Hopefully I'll be meeting with someone about pouring a floor ASAP. Annie will help me revise my presentation, and we have many other churches to go to. God specifically gave me three pastors, and one of them whom I'm meeting today, and the other two, were not at the conference.

Hopefully this vision will really be worked out through the churches. If we can get some people to volunteer as security day and night, then we could get the word out all over Granada, for people to come and spend time with God.

As Annie and I were discussing all this, I little voice started telling me, because there is so much work to be done, I should skip our nightly prayer time to work on it. Quickly I was like NO WAY! God is at the heart of this. My first priority is still spending time, with just the two of us( God and I, not Annie and I lol). Annie and I are committed to not get so excited that we forget about him. I WILL take time away from working on this, to pray and spend time with the God who has won my heart.

With all the amazing things that have been going on about this movement, the most amazing thing is still the times we spend with God every night. The other night I asked God to stir up my emotions, as I spoke poetry to him. I got to the point where I couldn't even talk; I could only sit there in love him. Last night we just laid on our backs looking up at the stars, without saying anything for about an hour. Other nights people are shouting, singing, solemn, jumping up and down, or on their knees repenting or in awe of God. The other night God reminded me of what a mess I still am. I have matured so much that I forgot. It was so amazing though, because when God show you you're a mess, it's not to focus on your problems, it's to focus on HIS mercy! It is so much easier to let him hold you when realize you can't stand on your own feet. I love being a mess before God.

Everything I am doing is amazing because I know God is enjoying it even more than I am. As Misty Edwards says, "I can only be satisfied, by satisfying him."

It's coming...

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Ok so I feel like I'm so busy I don't have time to blog, BUT I think I need to blog now more than ever. Things have gotten a little bit crazy to say the least. I don't even know what it is, but God is doing something huge. Now that we live in a different place there is this was this old, overgrown, roofless house in the back yard, off a little ways. We have started going out to pray there every night for a few hours at a time. The locals have told us that, that place has been an evil place to them. One of the pastors said he had felt an evil presence there, some of the others have some wild stories, and a guard they had hired even quit because apparently he saw something come at him and touch him. Whatever the case, this pathetic little house has become a beautiful sanctuary to us. We are on the offensive and the gates of Hades cannot prevail against us. Every night, God shows up in power. We always leave feeling like were on an adrenaline rush full of joy and love. We have been filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of love. Every night we pray for every member of our team, and every night I feel like I love my team members even more. There have been other evidences too.

One night as I was praying for a girl, God stopped me as I got to her name. I prayed for her more and ended up writing her a note full of bible verses and encouragement. The next day, through divine intervention, we got paired up to hangout for the day. She told me as I was writing the note she was in her room crying over the same issue I wrote about in the note. It was so exciting to be used by God to encourage one of his children, whom I also love. This is how the church was designed to function. Supernatural revelation for the edification of the body.

I believe many things are happening among the team, and I believe prayer, in many ways is stirring things up. Even as we drive out evil in our little house of prayer, spiritual warfare has undoubtedly increased. It seems like everyone I talk to has been hearing more lies from the evil one, but at the same time has a greater passion for nothing less than Jesus. Everything is becoming more extreme. I feel it for sure.

I have talked with them missionaries about making the house into a real house of prayer. We have cleaned it out, and it is now just a dirt floor. We are looking into building on it, and cleaning it up more. I have huge plans for the house, but even more so, a prayer movement initiated by God to bring revival to Nicaragua. Although I might be the only one that thinks so for now, I believe the fires of revival have been lit. It is in its earliest stage, but none the less stuff is happening!!!! I foresee huge things happening, but I'm kinda keeping it on the DL because I don't want to freak anyone out. But I can say it has been so exciting to be a part of this-everyday I wake up eager and excited to do God's work. I feel such a sense of purpose. I need prayer now more than ever! Please pray with everything you have, tell your friends, everyone. It started out with me just going out to pray for a little while. Now other teammates are often coming out, and 3 hours of prayer feels like 20 minuets. We often sing and rejoice in his name. We are petitioning him for revival and a breakthrough of the spirit. I feel like I have grown more spiritually in these two weeks of prayer, possibly more than I ever have. Spending time with God is teaching us how to pray. I have been blown away by some of the powerful prayers my teammates offer up. The Holy Spirit fills that place. If this thing snowballs, I believe all of Granada may be changed. I have been doing much research on revivals, and most seem to start with a prayer movement initiated by God. I've read testimonies of a couple people meeting in prayer, turning into a revival of a people. I am encouraging my imagination to wander like this. God can do it. Pray that he feeds the fire!!!! And pray that the devil is silenced. As I imagine what could happen, I now must rebuke the deceiving voice many times a day. Pride is a poison. Please pray against it. God's grace and mercy is the match that starts the fire, and he deserves ALL the credit. To him be the glory forever. His kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

I fly in tomorrow (friday) at six

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

We were on this Island for a week. We stayed at this orphanage, and I pretty much fell in love with the kids there. I held the younger kids and plaved soccer with the older kids. We watched the sun set over the lake every night, one night I watched it in a hamock with a little kid, and another night i watched it as we played soccer on the court. The food was good, we usually had power and water, and everthying was gorgeous! We climbed up this volcano ( ill try to get pics up later)-it took five hours to get to the lake at the top-something got into Joe and I and we sprinted down the volcano as fast as we could-we were racing these tour guides. For like the last three hours hiking to the top the clouds turned the trail into all out mud and slush-there were vines everywhere and rocks, and it was pretty steep-to where you had to climb a little in some places. When Joe and I started coming down we were stuck behind the group for about a half hour, but once we passed everyone we just took off in a mad dash. The young tour guides were behind us the whole way shouting and chasing us. Joes started calling them Ninas (little girls) which made them chase even faster. We would like run and slide down on the mud trying to keep our balance until we slid into a tree or could grab a vine-I fell numerous times, not caring about anything besides beating the tour guides. It was cold and we were in a cloud and covered in mud. Any places we climbed up a little Joe and I just jumped in stride, sometimes falling but hitting the ground running. I wish we had a video, cuz it was so slippery it was nearly impossible to walk down without falling-and Joe and I were running as fast as we could. It was such an adrenaline rushing thinking ahead to were we were going to put our next step our jumping over rocks, or catching our foot under a root. Honestly a miracle we didn't get hurt. Mom Im sorry but it was not safe at all, and one of the most fun times of my life. As we got lower down the mountain the path got more firm and we just kept going faster. We beat the tour guides to this beautiful clearing, and decided as much as we wanted to sprint on we had to take in the view. So the tour guides met up with us and we took pics and videos with them and just sat there for close to a half hour. We asked them if they were ready and they were too tired but Joe and I wanted to keep going. The path was pretty much hard by then so intead of running but kinda putting the breaks on I just let my legs go. I was sprinting straight down a volcano, trying to keep from falling forward my legs were going so fast. The only way i ended up slowing down was grabing a vine. Joe and I ran all the way back tho and it was seriously so much fun!! We got back in exactly 2 hours from when we left the top. Without our breaks Joe and I think we could have turned it into and hour. So then we showered off the mud, enjoyed a soda and layed in hamocks for the remaining three hours for others to get back. We were just thanking God he made us boys. I love being a boy.

I leave tomorrow morning at 10. and come into O hare at 6ish. Pray against delays-Ill prolly stay in Chicago that night-my cell should be working!! see you all soon!!!

ill be home soon

Sat, 6 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Ok for starters for my mom...some of the basics. Wake up at about 7:45, quiet time till nine, class till lunch. For class we usually go through books, like we read a few chapters and then discuss them during class. Lunch is usually a sandwich and chips, then an hour break then soccer. We became good friends with a local about my age, named Oscar, and he has basically been running the soccer practices. The kids respect him more and his Spanish is mucho major (much better). So it works out great. We just go and play, usually scrimmage with in between 20-30 kids ages 15-17ish. Then dinner, beens, rice, veggies, stuff like that. Then either rehab ministry till 8 or vida jove (young life) basically youth group till 8ish then come home, do some reading for the next day and go to bed. The mosquitos have been getting worse lately, and the flies are so annoying. They like land on your face in the morning and drive everyone crazy. It's still pretty hot here, but we have fans in our rooms, so it's not bad.

I listened to a sermon on basically discipling each other. It really set my heart on fire for my team. So many times I am very focused on my own personal walk with Christ, and preparing myself for the wedding day with Jesus. I felt like my eyes were just opened to the body of Christ preparing ourselves for that day. We all have to prepare each other as well. God is really doing amazing stuff among our team. I can just see people's hearts burning even more for him, and when we burn for him, his desires become our desires and we love people. Wow God designed everything so perfectly!!

P.S. I was praying for Tana's ankle (that she sprained) the other day, and my hand started getting hot. She said she kept opening her eyes because it felt like I was rubbing my finger on the soul of her foot, which I wasn't. It was pretty exciting for me because, I had heard about people describing a hot sensation during prayer, but this was the first time I experienced it! She said it didn't feel as sore, but the pain wasn't completely gone. The next morning she said it felt great, and we had to go into Managua so she walked around on it all day, and by the end of the day it hurt again. Who knows what God was up to? Maybe he just allowed her to get through that one day. He does what he wants, and I praise him for it.

I promised pics so I see what I can do. I'll put a couple from facebook too.

Reading is Fun

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I feel like this week flew by. I hardly remember it at first. I taught some English and soccer like always, but let's get right down to business.

Off and on throughout this missions trip I have wondered what my purpose, or maybe better stated my focus should be. I basically narrowed it down to three options. 1) Personally maturing in my relationship with God. 2) Building relationships, ministering, and disciplining my teammates. 3) Serve, love, and share the gospel with the people and country of Nicaragua.

After evaluating how I have lived the past few months a noticed that without trying, I have lived them out in that order. I wondered if this was ok. I mean I'm on a mission's trip and I'm being supported to care for the people of Granada right? So maybe I should be making them my first priority? Um... not so much. This is such a cool thing about diving deeper in my relationship with God and being taught by the Holy Spirit, because I start doing things right, and then I become conscious of my actions. As much as I love my team and the people of Granada my heart this trip has beaten the strongest for the one who sent me. I enjoy the time I spend growing with my team and the MANY relationships and powerful life changing experiences with the Nicas, but I crave the alone time I spend with my Father. So all that said many of the miracles I have experienced here have been in my heart. I hope this is not disappointing to all my faithful supporters. After all the first commandment is to love God, and the second is to love your neighbor. And the crazy thing is, when I take some time away from ministry for alone time with God, I've learned that I love others much better.

So anyways I didn't (At least I haven't SEEN the fruit, who knows what God is doing beyond my vision) have any incredible encounters with other people this week, but I have had a very deep week with God. I finished reading the book " After God's Own Heart" by Mike Bickle (hope I spelled that right). Easily the best book I've ever read, outside of the bible. The main theme is intimacy with God, which I am now convinced is the highest pursuit, most powerful offensive and defensive form of combat, and the most superior pleasure achievable. Anyways finishing that book was a powerful, powerful time. I can't even imagine a better book. I suggest it to everyone!!!

So after all that excitement, I picked up the book "The Shack" and read it in like two days, because I could not put it down. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, and was deeply moved. I was also excited to see my own character shine the colors of growth as I read it-in understandable terms, in the past when someone paints an even slightly different picture of God than what I have pictured in my mind I freak out and start a theological argument in my mind with the author. This picture of God was pretty wild to say the least, but I felt so at peace and open to whatever I was reading. That fact that we try to wrap our minds around an indescribable being is funny in the first place, so it was nice to throw away many of my bias thoughts on God, such as white, human, male, long hair, beard...haha oh the minds of humans! I actually started to fall in love with the picture the author paints of God!! I could see how someone would not like the book, but I loved it.

Best for last!! Nothing gets better than the bible. I was reading through John and felt like I was getting so much from God. It was like an interactive reading, with me asking questions, getting answers, and just having an amazing feeling. God is always with us, but sometimes I just feel his presence in different ways. Reading John felt great! So good, so powerful, so applicable. Yes!! OH I LOVE GOD SO MUCH!!! Even as I sit up in my bed typing this right now with everyone asleep and all the lights off, I feel him smiling with me, God I love you!!!! Aight well we gots some socca games in da monin so sweet dreams everyone!! Can't wait to see all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry about not posting pics lately-I will try my best to post some next week.

Fiesta

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

God brings so much life and freedom!

I'm sure everyone will be blogging about this because we all had to carry four rocks around in our back packs. Each rock represented a sin we still struggle with, and carrying it around meant everywhere-sleeping, eating, sitting, standing, soccer practice, and swimming. The only exception was in the shower. We had to do this for four days. The point was when Christians go back and pick up sins that Jesus already died for. I dunno exactly how much each rock weighed, they were probably about the size of a size thirteen foot, but anyways it was not very fun. It made sleeping more difficult and definitely hurt my ministry, a lot like in real life.

What I got most out of the exercise was joy! A big theme in my spiritual life lately has been running towards the good, instead of chasing away the bad. I was almost surprised about not feeling depressed by my sin. Usually during a meeting or something about repentance in the past, I come out thinking wow yeah my sin is terrible, I am terrible, wow people are so terrible, even every thought I think is evil, I am evil, God I'm sorry please God forgive me for being so terrible, God I'm not worthy of anything. This time was much different. We went through a list of all the sins or fears we might hold on to, and we discussed things we could do better. At first the guilt did start to sink in-look how many bad things I do, and look how many things I could do better. One thing we talked about was how in other religions kids may even have their bible memorized by the time they are ten and we still aren't even close. In my mind I started to justify myself. "well, we love people more, and because we follow the true God, the powers of darkness are working against us, and...", but who am I justifying myself against? Other religions? God? The Devil is more like it. How could I try and justify to God that I am ok, or not that bad or my works get me somewhere. He gave us the most precious gift of his son, who am I to try to start trying to earn my way again.

I learned this concept when I was a kid, but maybe now I thought because I am a better Christian, maybe now I can stand on my own righteousness. What! That's where the joy comes in! It is one thing to be convicted by the Holy Spirit. Through experience I've learned that the Holy Spirit does not bring every sin into light all at once, or dump all the things I could do better on me. The Holy Spirit has flawless timing and when he brings a certain sin to light it is another step in the growing process. He doesn't expect us to achieve instant perfection. He would, but that's were we call on they name of Jesus! When the Devil tries to get you looking at what you do or do not do he puts a value on your worth by what you do, not who you are. The Devil always tries to question your identity. He even did it to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God..." How often do we still hear that if? "Caleb if you are a son of God why do you sin so much or not do all these good thing?" "Caleb God's going to be mad at you." The answer is so Sunday schoolish! Jesus! Ok my life is full of garbage, so what, I call on Jesus' life. I do not have to be afraid of God waiting for his hammer to fall. (Quotes from the book After God's Own Heart) The hammer fell! It hit Jesus! It's not like yeah he took the big hammer, but there are still some little hammers waiting for me. NO! Jesus took it all.

When the Devil tells you your not worthy, it is a lie. We are worthy!! Because we traded our lives in for the life of Jesus. God choose to love us and fill us with glory! His glory!! When the bible says his glory will cover the whole earth, it is through us! We are his glory, because we are sons and daughters of the living God! I don't have to carry around this guilt anymore! My chains are gone, I've been set free!(sounds like a songJ) God loves me in my immaturity and is so excited to grow me throughout the rest of my life. I'm not constantly falling short of his plan, I am IN his plan! He already knows every sin I will commit for the rest of my life. I never surprise him with my sin. He knows, and he is transforming my heart and my mind.

Mmmh it is so refreshing to not find my identity in how much I sin. If I did I would be depressed for the rest of my life. I confidently stand in the presence of God, like a true Son of God should. I do not have fear of what I have done. Sinning is just like the prodigal son. We run away from God. It is sad because were not with him. Ok so run back! And if you look at the story he is longing for you to run back! We don't run back to an angry disciplining father, we run back to someone running to meet us and throw a party for our returning!!!! We we say we are only worthy to be his servant God says that we are his sons and daughters. WHOOOHOO!! Our success is not based on what we do or do not do, it is based in the truth that we love God, and he loves us!!

So lets party!!! And if you are living in intentional sin, run back into his loving arms...and then LETS PARTY!!!

So after we God rid of the rocks I saw the freedom God gives me everyday! I rejoiced in his freedom, and then the next day we went swimming in a volcanic crater lake in a volcano. It was beyond gorgeous! The water was so clean and amazing. Pepe took some of us sailing, he is really good, and it was even more gorgeous. Living in God's glory and freedom makes for a truly beautiful life! J

Illness, sponges, and JC

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I apologize for not blogging last week, I was very ill. Actually I am still ill, seeing as how I am typing this in my room lying on my bed, whereas usually on Thursday nights I am at Vida Joven (young life), basically youth group. I haven't gone to ministry in a week I've been so sick. These past couple days my fever has been down allowing me to go to class, but once the Tylenol wore off I would come back to my room and crash the rest of the day.

I have had a fever, headache, sore throat, headache, stomach ache, achy all over, and a few other odd symptoms. I have been to the Doc a couple times and they have diagnosed me with a throat infection, but I have been on antibiotics for almost a full week and the only thing that has improved is my fever, which I think the Tylenol is keeping under control. Physically I feel miserable, and I am eager to be back on the field serving. I'm sure all of you know the huge benefit of being sick is having your mother to care for you. This is the sickest I remember being in my life with maybe the exception of chicken pocks and mono. Basically I really miss my mom.

There are some benefits though. I think for me it's almost been like fasting. I am suffering and I have more time to spend with God. The only difference is that I am not doing this by choice, and I can't break fast whenever I want( I've definitely tried "ok God thanks for the time with you it was good, now could you please heal me? I give up." Which is actually pretty cool if I think of it like that. God initiated, and he controls the intensity and duration. He definitely turned up the intensity of the quiet times too. I have had such fruitful times with God this week.

First my team and I all prayed that God would heal me. A couple days later God answered me as I was up sick all night. I felt it during prayer and then I listened to a sermon on waiting, and then all as I read the bible it seemed liked waiting kept coming up. This actually gave me great encouragement. I knew that I was sick for a purpose, which is much better than feeling like I'm missing all this ministry. I trusted that God had something better in store for me.

A couple cool things I had already seen God do was give me even more compassion for sick people. Sometimes when I have good health I forget how much of a burden physical sickness can be. Another thing I was watching God do through this was brining Joe and I together even more. There were a couple days where he stayed back and took care of me. Joe has been growing with God at an unbelievable rate these days! It has definitely gotten me excited to watch him just taking leaps of faith for God. He often now will choose to spend time with Jesus over other fun things that we might normally do!! That is so awesome to find satisfaction from just being in the presence of GOD!

So as Joe Carter nursed me back to health, Jesus Christ was also making plans for my well being. A couple nights later I couldn't sleep again, and I was in my room and so I sat up and started praying quietly in my bed, some where in there my prayers became louder and I felt God's presence more. I can't describe all that happened that night, but Joe and I ended up getting together for hours of some of the most powerful prayer and encounter with God I have ever had. It just felt like God was pouring out so much love into our hearts. We had so much joy and it felt like God was revealing so much. One thing I felt I got a picture of a sponge. Well I think my dad was the one who originally said that the Holy Spirit is like a pool and we are the sponge, in him but he is in us. With that in mind I felt like some parts of my life are full and saturated with the Holy Spirit, but other parts of me are dry. I felt like this past week God was telling me, to fill me he had to squeeze me like a sponge so that I will be ready to be filled. That night I felt sooo filled it was incredible. Being sick was worth it! Yeah God!

Good Week.

Sat, 1 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

hmmm. Well I kinda have a lot on my mind at the moment, and honestly was not in the mood to blog until I just wrote this last sentence. I was going to write that I am not in the mood to blog, but in this instant God changed my mind. I get to tell of the awesome works of our glorious father to family, friends, financial supporters, and faithfull prayer warriors.

This week was so good. It was filled with goodness. I it was sunday when there was a guy asking Joe and I for money. We didn't have money, but we offered him prayer. He didnt want the prayer, because he said the devil had too much power over him and his family. Joe and I gave him as much truth as week could in our feeble Spanish, telling him that Satan is a lier and wants to destroy him and Jesus crushes Satans head. But not through our choice words but by the POWER of the Holy Spirit, through much time convinced him that he needed to pray. It was funny though how honest he was. Through his tears he told us that he wanted Jesus, but couldn't because the power of the Devil. It was obvious that the Devil was at his best in this man's life. Satan is very consistant in convincing people that he has power where he does not, and with this lie people give him the power they assume he already had.

The Holy Spirit was miraculously at work during our talk with him. JD and Sarah ended up coming over and JD was talking to him with his mucho mejor (better) Espanol. As JD and Joe talked and Sarah prayed, JD asked me to look up a verse. I knew of the verse, but I had no clue where it was located in the bible. I prayed, and randomly opened up my bible, incredibly I looked straight down at the verse. A few min later JD asked me to look up another verse. The guy had many trials in his life so JD wanted me to look up the verse where Paul lists his trials. I was looking for like a list or column all throgh romans and acts and was unsuccesful. Then I stopped and told Joe and Sarah to pray for me. I purposly turned the bible to a random page, and after not seeing a column I almost turned away, but after looking more intently realised that it was in fact the list of Pauls sufferings. Paul goes on to say that he learned to be content in all circumstances, and that God's grace was sufficient for him.

Still crying this young man accepted Christ that night. Consistant with who God is he insisted that we go back to his house and pray over is house and his family. He wanted the people he loves to feel the joy he was feeling. We did and it was very powerful. We prayed against the powers of darkness. One of the most powerful things to me was after we prayed I looked up and saw the man crying again, tears of joy and freedom. Equally as powerful and to my surprise I saw my brother in Christ JD crying. Wow when God moves, he is intentional about the lives he touches.

Truth: There is a spiritual battle going on. Satan and powers of darkness are real and daily decieve people into putting themselves in chains and giving him the key. People are not satisfied with there lives of sin and letting the Devil destroy them.

Truth: Jesus Christ has all power and authority. God has entrusted Christians with that power. We hold the key, in the name of Jeus Christ to free people of the chains of the Devil. Jesus fills people with freedom, truth, peace, healing, and a purpose for living. In knowing Christ people are more satisfied than they thought was possible.

When we met that man he was broken and oppressed like many other people without Jesus. When we left he was full of joy, peace, and a purpose for living.

You are probably getting used to me putting challenges in my blogs. This probably because I have so much in my heart, but can rarely speak it in my own language.

Anyways I would challenge all christians reading this to declare war on darkness. For so long I was decieved thinking that maybe someone didn't want to hear the gospel or they were content with their life. When Jesus talks with the women at the well he basically tells her that if she knew who he was she would beg him for it.(quote from John Lalgee)

Thats still true. If people knew what we have the would beg us for it.

With out Jesus Christ there is no other outcome than destruction! We declare war on darkness by sharing the good news of WHO JESUS CHRIST IS and what he has done.

I also found out later that night that not only did he have a need to hear the gospel, but I had a hunger to share the gospel. After Jesus ministers to the women at the well he tells the disciples that he has food that they know nothing about (This is also a concept I heard from John Lalgee) Sharing the Gospel sustained him.

That night I found that out to be true. I felt so full and filled. I climbed up onto the roof and just stared up at God, in the form of a stary sky. As I watched his shooting stars my heart felt so close to him. Joe, JD, and I ended up sleeping outside that night. There is nothing better than being with God.

Please pray for: My Spanish to rapidly and supernaturaly improve. That my team members and I would continue to experience God more intamately. Andy the man who accepted Christ( throw a party if you want :)) and for my friend Krista.

If you made it through this whole blog please give yourself a pat on the back because I know it was a long one :) God Bless!

Vid of My House

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Read First

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I might just write about miracles instead of blogging. They are so common these days. It is crazy the things God does when we step out in faith.

Just to get some of the basics out of the way... it seems like our team is getting along really well. My ministries consist of helping teach ESL (English) on Mondays in like a classroom setting and the every other day coaching soccer. We have a 10-12age team that practices on Thursdays and Fridays, And a 15-17 age team that practices Tuesday Wednesday and Friday. The younger team is our team that we coach and coach games on Saturdays. The older players are on many teams with different coaches, and we are just there to train. The coaches encourage us to help on Saturdays also. JD and I will also be playing on a team 19-25age starting this Sat.

Ok now for the good stuff. This week started off a little hard for me, just missing family and stuff, but God knows how much we can handle and when we need him to pick us up. So on Monday during a quite time I felt like through some conviction and revelation, God gave me a sermon. I like told some people and wrote it down in my journal. The next day at Crea (the drug rehab center), it was getting to be almost 7 and Bravo wasn't there. I jokingly said that I would speak if Bravo didn't show. Pepe was like you should ask Bravo if you can speak tonight anyway. I told him no way, but if he didn't show I would speak.

As this conversation was going on I noticed one of the guys didn't look to happy. I knew he spoke English and I felt God telling me to go and talk to him. In my little faith I knew the meeting was about to start so I was like ok God (he was leaning back with his hands behind his head) if he leans forward and puts his elbows on his thighs before the meeting starts I will go talk to him. A lot like last week the instant I said that he leaned forward and put his elbows on his thighs. So I went over and talked to him and it turned out he had been in the program for 4 months already put he slept with a women and had to start the whole program over today. He asked me if I had ever had sex, and was really surprised when I told him that I hadn't. He told me I need to try it and how good it is.

As Bravo starting teaching I felt the whole time that God was telling me to stop him and ask him if I could speak, but he is such a man of God I was like who am I to ask speak instead of him. I was like ok God if you want me to speak I need you to make an opportunity for me. Getting near the end of his message he ended up asking me to ask a question to the guys about what we learned today. After I asked my question I asked him if I could say some things. It felt powerful as I was speaking-in my next blog I will write more about what I said, but for this blog I will just say that it ended up with three people receiving Christ! Praise God!! Bravo was handing out shirts to people who needed them, and one guy didn't get one so I took my shirt off and gave it to him, and I think that really impacted the guys. As much as that blessed the guys, it really blessed me too, because I got to see some of the fruit of why were down here, and I was so excited that God chose to work through me! Yeah God!

Read Second

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

So the "sermon" haha God gave me started when we were playing would you rather, where you ask people if they would rather do something or something else, like eat worms or eat dirt I dunno something like that. I was trying to think of one and I started off with would you rather have a day without consequences or...and I couldn't think of a second thing. That night I was thinking about what I would do with a day without consequences. I started thinking about all the sins I would indulge in. I would go slap all the people who have annoyed me in the face, I would definitely try drugs, drink, and I'm sure you can think of many more things to do on a day without consequences. God totally convicted me of those thoughts. Basically I was saying the only reason I serve you God is because I am afraid of the consequences. God showed me that I thought this because I have a messed up view of who God is. If I saw God for who he really was I would know that there is absolutely nothing better then spending time with him and worshiping him. That is what we were designed for and when we live for our purpose it is better than drugs, or gossiping or any other thing on earth. Being with God is better! Not just in the long run, but right now!!!! Yes the reward may be even greater in the long run, but serving God right now is the best thing we can do.

This may have been why I struggle with holiness. I say I want to be Holy, but time and time again I fall. Truth is in my heart I desired to sin all along. I believe that when we desire sin, but are good at not doing the action it is like trying to hold corks under water. When the corks are constantly trying to surface eventually they will...SIN.

As I was telling the guys about this (more or less I'm sure I added some stuff in this blog) I tied it in to how Frank was just trying not to disobey the rules for fear of the consequences and how that worked for like 4 months, but eventually he messed up because the was really the desire of his heart. I told people that if they wanted to experience something better than all that they could come up and receive Christ. It was really awesome!! So that night when I was thinking about the things I said, I wondered how a person like me who knows Christ still could desire sin. So after I prayed about it and had devotion a felt like God gave me another sermon. I'm not sure if it will be more helpful for me to write it, or for you to hear it, but I will write it in my next blog.

Read Last if you want

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

To pick up where I left off I was wondering how I could possible desire something other than God. And if our purpose in life is too worship God we should probably desire him above anything. So here is I guess another sermon that I feel is from God.

Um just a little pre-sermon notes. I am a 19 year old kid with little experience in the world. I have changed so many of my thoughts over the past years. Basically as you read this remember I'm know great pastor like my father, or had years of experience. So please take this for what it is worth. Ok enough of that.

Hmm maybe I'll title this "Four Ways to fulfill our Purpose of Worshiping God"

1) Read the bible.

The bible says that when Jesus comes everyone will join in worshiping him. Basically God is Glorious. When he reveals that glory to us we cannot help but to worship him. So in order to worship him well we need him to reveal who he is to us. God reveals himself to us through the book written by him and about him. Satan knows that if we see God for who he really is we will not be able to resist worshiping him. Satan wants us to have a distorted view of who God is. This may be why reading the bible may be one of the hardest things to do, because it is the last thing Satan and our flesh wants us to do. Even committed Christians may read books about the bible, listen to Christian music, listen to tapes, and take notes during sermons, but there is nothing better than reading the inspired Word of God! Satan is set on destroying us. We are not ignorant of Satan's schemes. When he tries to detour you from the bible, the thing you need most is the Truth. Call his lies what they are and dig into the WORD!

2) Spend Time in Meditation and Prayer

If you want to know someone you need to spend time with them. It's ok to be honest with God and tell him where you at. He is kind, loving and wants to spend time with you! Even more important than telling him where you're at is LISTENING. Listening is so crucial especially during ways 1 and 3 also. If we want to obey God, we have to know his will, and to know his will we need to LISTEN!

3) Worship God Through Song

Get emotional! People often get emotional about things that matter most to them. Psalms is full of EMOTION! Lifting hands, dancing, shouting, and making music to the Lord is totally biblical! God chose us to worship him! Get Excited!! When I first started lifting my hands it was pretty uncomfortable for me. Sometimes the Holy Spirit inspires me to lift my hands, and sometimes I do the motion first and I feel the fruit of that in my heart. I would encourage you to try even just lifting you hands. It may feel weird at first, but it's biblical and it really helped me during to worship passionately. And going back to listening-I hear God most during worship through song. Whether its conviction or him revealing something to me it is often powerful and life changing.

4) Obedience

Faithful Obedience is definitely and act of worship to God. I think these steps need to be done in order. Growing up I tried to be obedient, which wasn't bad, but with out the first three was impossible. I started with 4 which is why I did 1-3. If we saw God for who he was in all his in glory it would inspire obedience. I used to try and be a good kid because I knew it was right, so I would put my head down and serve God, secretly wishing to be like the other kids. Although I am still far from fully seeing God for who he is, I now want to serve him because I love him so much! I GET to be obedient! It is still not always easy for me, but the more I learn about who God is it has gotten easier. So definitely seek God's heart first and start with number one.

So that's what's on my heart these days. Feel free to leave a comment even if you don't agree with something-we're all chasing God together and we're all still figuring it out so let me know.

Super Natural God

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ok prolly like a week and a half ago i noticed i was getting some athletes foot, kinda nasty but its always so hot so our feet end up sweating a lot.anyways i didnt know if i could get meds so I prayed that God would heal it.over the nest couple days i noticed it getting worse so probably on tues of this week our translator was like wait up guys I need to get some med cause i have athletes foot.even tho i was wearing flip flops, with out looking at my feet i was like oh i need some too. so i got some meds but when i went to put it on the next morning it was completely gone, like not to make this nasty but to glorify God, i had it on both feet all over, and it wasnt like it was getting better it was like not even a trace! and i was like sweet God! wish i wouldve noticed before i bought the med tho. so tues nights we go to a drug rehab center to hang out with the guys, but i ended up staying back because i felt like i needed some extra time with God and in the word(which was amazing) but I had told our translator that God healed my feet.when our translator came back he said there was a guy there that had really bad athletes foot but couldnt afford the med so maybe i could give him mine.So the next morning I went up to thereally amazing pastor(cuz he helps at the rehab place) and i dont know why but I was just like here, and gave him the med.without telling him what it was for our whatever.and he was confused for a second and then was like oh this is the med I needed for the guy at the rehab center.oh God bless you! haha i dont know if he had been praying for it or what not but imagine things from his end. you need med for someone and a kid just comes up and says here.WOW God is working!!!

then the next day during my quiet time thru a strange series of divine events I didnt have my bible or any of my books or journal. so I was like ok awesome ill just pray the whole time. so im praying next to this wall and trying to listen to God.when i hear this person on the other side of the wall sweeping really loudly. and i was like whatever and i was actually praying for God to talk to me audibly just because I wanted to hear the sweetness of his voice, but anyways then this person turns on some loud music. I was like God was is this? I know you want to spend time with me and I know the devil doesnt want me to. God is this the devil.No God please dont let him win!(i like had my ears plugged trying to listen to God and I was like speaking this out loud) and i said in the name of Jesus Christ let the music stop! and the absolute instant I said Jesus Christ the music stopped! I couldnt hardly believe it. so then i was like ok in the name of Jesus Christ can we have the sweeping stop too please.same thing the instant I said Jesus Christ the sweeping stopped. I spent the rest of the time listening for Gods audible voice.I didnt hear it until i went back to the church our translator was like crying and we talked and he was like I was thinking about hearing Gods voice and I was thinking God talks to us audibly through each otherevery day! wow god just talked to me through him!we ended up getting pared up for this thing and we ended up talking so much about God and he was like crying and stuff and we were reading scripture and the next morning he told our pastor in front of all of us at the mens bible study that he wanted to recieve Christ! and he is always saying no im not a christian! we layed hands on him and prayed for him it was awesome!

Time Flies

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I must be having fun because this week flew by. Part of me feels like I am still just got here and another part of me feels like I've never lived anywhere else. One of the coolest parts of being here has been all the relationships we have built. Everywhere we go we see people we know. I guess we stick out a little, but people have gotten used to seeing us around and we are always friendly and relational so we have friends all over town.

Let's see, this week we did yard work at the church, taught English at a catholic school, played with kids at a day care, went to the rehab center and had class by a pastor from the local church. Teaching English was kind of nice because I could be confident in my language for once. Mostly what I do at the church is cut the grass with machetes, which is pretty tough work, but I'm getting better at it. The pastor who taught us for class this week was really good. He went through the whole book of Job. The basic point was that we don't always know what God is doing, but we have to trust that he knows best. Down here that is a good thing to be reminded of. Last but not least the day care was incredible! The second we walked in the kids just started screaming and ran up and hugged us. These kids just wanted love and affection. They were really happy kids, but they really wanted touch. You might just be standing there and a little kid would just come up and hug your leg our something. I don't know if you've experienced this, but it really touched me. I know other people took pictures of the day care, so I will try to get them up sooner or later.

As for the future, I will be coaching a soccer team ages 15-18. We will practice 2 times a week and have games on Saturdays. I might be helping out with a younger team also, but it looks like I will be the head coach of the older team. That will be a lot of my life. It is so cool how God prepared me for this trip before I even knew I was coming. He is so amazing! Miss you guys!

Ecclesiastes

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

My mother made a comment about me swimming where there could have been snakes, bugs, or weird fish and how I have changed. Mom you probably won't like this post much, but I think God gave me this verse and I say it for about everything.

Somewhere in Ecclesiastes it says " the destiny of every man is death".

Q: should I drink this water

A: Ecclesiastes

Q: should I jump in this lake

A: Ecclesiastes

Q: do I need my malaria medicine

A: Ecclesiastes

haha those are some goofy ones, but even sleeping at night with the bugs and the lizards could get someone. I find comfort in not having to wonder whether or not I am going to die. Turns out all of us are going to. As I read through Acts, I read about how people try to kill Paul all the time, but God protected him until his plan was complete. It is actually pretty safe here, but for those of you who know me, I'm usually not one for dirty things or weird animals. As an answer to prayer, God has broke any little fears I had. He holds me tightly, and will not allow anything to happen to me that would cut his plans for me short. He is a good father.

Life Down South

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Ok so this is our house for the 6 guys we have. I know this pic doesnt really show much at all but sorry maybe you can try to imagine it our something-haha just kidding I'll try to get some pics of the inside.

WELL.... I'm pretty much doing life here now! I still miss everyone, but this is kinda my home now. I don't know its not really a missions trip. It's more like life in another country, with the main goal to serve Christ...which is pretty much how life should always be anyways...so it's funny I had to come all the way to Nicaragua to figure that out but im glad God finally got through to me. For example I'm sitting in an internet cafe right now, but like five min ago my amigo Joe, started talking with some guy, and we ended up praying for his leg because he was shot there. Like two min ago another guy we have talked to on and off came in and we talked to him about coming to our bible studies and stuff.

God is teaching me it works so much better when we wait and ask him to bring us the opportunities. We do intentional ministries, such as teaching english at an orphange, going to bible studies, going to rehab centers, and serving at the church, which has been great, but I have seen some of the best fruit come from just going through life, but being sensitive to God working around us. He works we are just the tools. At the same time he has chosen to give us righteousness, authority, and power. This country is oppressed by darkness, but by the power of the name of Jesus Christ, we can be men and women of dominion and take back land for his kingdom. Please pray for truth for a country deceived by the evil one. Truth that God is loving and caring and wants to be with them.

One cool story ( there are many) that I will throw in here is about an ATL we did recently. ATL stands for ask the Lord. It really stretches us because we just get in smaller groups and pray that God will tell us what to do for the next few hours. This is not as easy as it sounds. I often have thoughts like... "Was that my voice or God's? I'm not hearing anything. Wait God you want me to do what? What if I do this or go there and it fails? That will sound or look foolish to everyone else.:" But you should def try it because time and time again God comes through.

This last ATL I kinda had a picture of JD preaching in the town square. I figured this was becasue I was reading about Paul in the bible and that it was he always did. Anyways I told the team, but we all kind of laughed because no one really does that, and would we just start preaching or what. We mostly forgot about it, but after some different events we ended up in the town square and bought lunch for an old man. Another man sitting next to the old man saw JD's bible and asked us what religion we were. As JD started talking about it some other people started to stand around and listen. To make a long story short JD shared the gospel, said works can't get you to heaven (which is not a popular thing to say down here) and was straight up preaching in spanish out of the bible. We were just sitting on the ground with the bible open with like 15 or more people around us. We ended up praying for a ladies daughter afterwards too.

God totally wants to talk to us. All we have to do is listen. It is harder then it sounds, but we have the bible which we will can always know what is right to do, and we have the Holy Spirit which will guide us by showing us when and where to do it. Give it a try. Even if you think you hear something that seems really goofy, God could just be seeing how much faith you have in him. I'm not saying don't discern things, but God definetly works in ways that I don't understand and we have to step out in faith!

Alright well im going to go post another blog. Make some comments on how you guys are doing and how I can pray for you!! Hows life in the States???

Matagalpa

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This is Matagalpa. Joe, Baker, and I had a chance to travel with a basketball team up there for a two day tournament with Young Life. We did alright, Joe is good at bball, but it is just mostly for building relationships. It was actually cold up in the mountains and the camp we stayed in was like in the jungle. It was rainy and cold because we were usually like in clouds, but after our last game we jumped in this lake in the jungle and it was really cold, but it felt sooooo good compared to granada. It was so beautiful there.

Training Camp

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I guess I will start off just telling you what we did for camp. We had probably about 100 students at camp separated into their different teams according to what country they were going to. A normal day consisted of a cold shower (a hose) and breakfast at 7:30, devotions from 8-9, then two teaching sessions until lunch at 12:30. After lunch we had team builders until dinner at 6 I think (it seems like so long ago), and then worship at night.

Team builders were usually ridiculous tasks taken seriously by the team. For example we were put in an imaginary situation of just being in a plane crash and having to get from one point to another as a team. Members of the team would have different injuries such as being blind, mute, not being able to use arms or legs, or unconscious. So as you can imagine having mute people trying to explain to blind people where to carry unconscious people got a little wild. Being put in these stressful situations helped our team learn how to work together, trust each other and discover weaknesses and strengths. It was challenging and rewarding, but let me just say I am thanking GOD for blessing me with such an AWESOME TEAM!!!! The people on my team are so amazing and love God a ton! I could be like best friends with every person by themselves, but it's even better to hang out and serve God with all of them everyday! Our leaders confidently live for God and I can't wait to learn more from them.

Worshiping with a bunch of other people who are sacrificing a ton because they love God so much was amazing! Training camp was a great way to kick off what I know will be an incredible trip!

Nicaragua Week Numbero Uno!

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Moral: high

Rations: decent

Water: questionable

Living Conditions: different but nice

Bugs and Lizards: many

Snakes: scarce (so far)

People that need Jesus: EVERYWHERE!!!

Haha I'm here!!! I can't believe it!!! Most the time it doesn't seem real. It is nice because it isn't just a mission's trip, it is life. Most trips I've been on every min since the time you arrive is filled with ministry. This is different because we can work on our temporary homes and get to know people in the town. This first week we've pretty much been getting settled in, checking things out, and learning about the culture. We have gotten involved a little at the church with the worship team and bible studies and people are starting to get to know us. We are the first group of missionaries to be here for this amount of time so we have to set up some of our own ministries. There are some ideas, but we are kind of pioneering the way. We have also have been playing soccer with the local teenagers in the street almost every night which has been fun, and really useful in getting to know people.

God continues to be amazing! He is so good to us. I get so excited every day when it comes to my quiet time. A theme he has been teaching me is renewing my mind. So apparently since the fall of man, when we are born we began learning things from our flesh and deceptive lies of the evil one. So now that we are under the new authority of Jesus Christ and not the flesh, we have to relearn how to do everything in Christ rather than our flesh. It is not bothersome though to relearn everything. Although it is sad to realize how far off we have become, renewing my mind is the incredible part, and leads to truly living!

Yesterday we worked at the church and cut grass with machetes and some other work. We have met some amazing people already-this is going into week two but since I haven't posted this yet I am adding some more. This week we have quiet times in the morning and a time of teaching, then working at the local church in the afternoon. We also attend bible studies for the men in the church. Sorry about not blogging very much, but our internet is limited. I think the rest of the week we will be doing a lot of work at the local church. I think that's all for now. I miss and love you all!!!

Had A Bad Day?

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

My facebook status this past week has been-Caleb Spitler stopped believing in bad days. This reflects one thing God has been teaching me.
The story of Joseph which can be found in Genesis 37 has given me a totally new perspective on life. Going back to Romans 12 "his good, pleasing, and perfect will." I realized how many times we question that. God why did you let this happen to me? God I wanted to go to Peru. God why won't my car start the first time? All of those things are MY perspective on what is good for me. Not God's perspective. God might be thinking-"Caleb if your car would have started the first time you would have hit a deer, so I stalled it for a second to keep you safe". Or "Caleb you don't know anything about those countries, you just want to go to Peru because it sounds cool, I know the people you will be ministering to and where you need to be".

I'm sure Joseph thought he was having a bad day when his father rebuked him, or when he was sold into slavery, or when he was thrown into jail for being a man of integrity, or when the cup bearer forgot to tell the pharoah about him and he was in prison for two years, when really God was in control the whole time, and every one of those occurences brought him a step closer in God's plan to making him the second most powerful man on earth, and feeding the whole country and his family.

This makes me wonder if anything bad has ever happended to me, or if God has always been in control and working things out for his GOOD, PLEASING, and PERFECT WILL!! Easy answer to that question! I was at a Steven Curtis Chapman concert the other week, and just a month before his 5 year old daughter had died in a car accident. My heart goes out to his family, and I'm sure I have no idea what they are going through, but I still cannot call it "bad". Things may be extremely difficult for us to go through, and hard to understand God's will on, but I do not believe his truth can be swayed by the severity of our circumstances. Because of Steven's story I believe more lives were touched that night.

Whether it's something little or something huge in our eyes, not only may we not currently know God's will, but he is not bound to ever reveal his will to us. When Job lost everything, and Job questions him, in Chapter 38(check it out!) God answers him with reminding him of who is GOD and who is man. Not only do I find peace in being able to trust that things that do not look good in my narrow view, or to my feeble mind, are in God's COMPLETE control, but I also want to be careful not to blame the ALL KNOWING GOD for things that may appear bad to me!!! Matthew 7:11 "If you, then who are evil, know how to give good gifts to you children how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him". Now instead of getting down about something that doesn't go how I planned or wanted it to go, I can praise God in knowing that he knows whats best for my life!!!

I posted this somewhere else, but Jamie said I should put it as a blog post and maybe it will be encouraging to people too.

Just a little update on my life.

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Alright so I'll start this update off by saying praise God!!!!! He is so incredible and brought me in his grip thus far in this new chapter of my life. I know I have told many of you about this blog site so if you are checking up on me, thank you very much, and I hope all is well with you!

So the biggest event of my recent life would be my brother getting married this past weekend, the 9th!!!!! Yes I am the driver not the one up by the bride:) Is was so amazing God has blessed them with so much, I couldn't be happier for them and the wedding day itself was just a blast!!!

As far as support goes I have 3,700 dollars in my account right now! Wow praise God again! I wasn't looking forward to raising support, but just watching God work in other people and seeing the body of Christ rise up to support me has been soooo encouraging!!!! Thank you to everyone who has helped financialy and prayerfully.

I originally was telling everyone that I was going to Peru, but it seems as though I will be staying in Nicaraugua the whole time. No worries though, God knows what he is doing!!! I know many of you have asked about some more details as to what we will be doing. If you go to the main page for everyone and click on learn about the awakening, that might help, but to tell you honestly I hardly know what I will be doing. I think working at orphanages, prisons, building chruches, and evangelism are some things we will be doing, but for the most part I'm just jumping where God tells me to, and trusting him to catch me! Once I am there though, I will let you know what exactly we're doing.

Some of you may be some what surprised at my descision to leave the country for nine months, especially when I've never left the country before. I would like to take that opportunity to shine the glory on the one I go to serve! God is so good, he has drawn me to himself and loved me so much, I want to be where he wants me to be. One thing God has been teaching me, and I mean literally God teaching me, is how to love him first. God cares about our actions, but even more importantly he cares about our hearts. Being raised in a christian home the christian lifestyle became who a part of me. Yes I have been outwordly obedient to God, but more as a sense of duty or fear or just trying to follow the rules. God is teaching me to love him so much that I just want to serve him!! If your checking this blog out and care about me, but aren't sure about this God I'm am talking about, let me tell you he is a God of love!!! I remember reading my bible every day so I could say I did or to check it off the list of things christians do, but as I discover the love he has shown me and the love I can have for him, I do those things because I want to. God wasn't impressed with me checking off boxes of things I did, he is interested in having a personal relationship with us!!!! He is interested in our hearts.

So yeah thats pretty much my life these days! YES I'm am so excited to go on this trip, I can hardly wait to serve people, get my hands dirty, and fellowship with people who love God, and be taught by people who are more matture, and personally continue to love God in a deeper way!!!! Whoooohoooo!!!! If you got any questions or comments It would be great to here from you! Praise God!!!

-Caleb Spitler