Iselinn

...the dts ended...

...i went to Rio Mar, a beautiful beach where the river meets the ocean...

...the summer season of mission adventures started, and i lead my first team...

...our house flooded due to heavy rain and mud and got everything wet...

...i went to Oajaca a couple of times to prepare for the next NIKOs...

...we have been doing som serious tae bo to get physically ready for the NIKO.. (if you haven't done it before, you should consider it, it's lots of fun!)

...i have been wainting  for my sister and Ida to come and visit me... they come on thursday!!! tjoho!

There was a group of women meeting to have their weekly biblestudy, and while they were reading in the book of Malachi, they found the verse that says; "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver".(3:3) It made them curious to what this verse wanted to say about God's nature and character.

One of the ladies offered to investigate the process of purification of silver, and that same week she called a silversmith to make an appointment to see his work. She didn't mention any details about her true reasons for her visit, only that she had been curious about silver purification. While she was observing the smith holding a piece of silver over the fire letting it  heat up, he explained to her that to refine the silver, it needs to be held in the middle of the fire where the flames burn the strongest, and that way get rid of all the impurities.

In this moment the lady pictured how God is holding us in a place just as hot, and she remembered the verse they had been reading in the biblestudy. She asked the smith if it was true that he had to stay seated in front of the fire during the whole time the silver was being refined. "YES", answered the smith. "Not only  do I have to sit here holding the silver, I also have to keep my eyes on the piece the whole time it is in the fire. If the silver would be left a second  longer in the fire than necessary, it would be destroyed."

The lady then asked him; "How do you know when the silver is completely purified from impurities?" He laughed and answered; " Oh, it's very easy -- When I see my image reflected in it."

If you feel the heat of the fire today, remember that God keeps His eyes on you all the time, and that He will continue observing you until He sees His image in you.

The other day a group of people from the base went out to eat  el salvadoranian food; pupusas. It's kind of a tortilla with meat, beans and cheese inside, and it's awfully good!! Silvia, my roommate (first pic), is from El Salvador and the two other girls, Heather and Samantha, are DTS-students. How wonderful are the times spent with good friends :)

The time, money, energy expened to preach the gospel to the ends of the world -

To leave native land, friends and parents, familiar places, to live in an alien culture, to learn a different language, to eat strange food -

Is it worth it?

Those who receive the gospel for the first time recognize it´s worth.

To them, it brings enlightenment to the mind, satisfaction to the spirit, cleansing to the soul, healing to the body.

They know the barrenness of life without His word.

Perhaps only those who have become accostumed to the gospels blessing ever ask;

"Is it worth it?"

                                         - Joyce Wells Booze

Home sweet home! We are back in Panama, in a little bordertown called Volcan.  It is wonderful to be back here in Panama, every time I´m away somewhere I realize how much I love it. I´ve met many familiar faces since we got here a couple of days ago (i lived here for three months before christmas),  and it has been really nice to catch up with them. We are working mainly with schools and churches in the area. This morning we as staff dressed up as clowns to surprise the students, so we did  parts of the presentation. They loved it, and thought it was hilarious! It was my first time as a clown, and it was actually alot of fun!!

well, that was all for now, i gotta go, we have another presentation pretty soon!

We are now back in Costa Rica, but today has only been a day of rest. I wanted to tell you guys what happened our last days in Honduras, it really impacted my life. Sometimes when I go to a country, I really like it because the country itself is so beautiful, and the nature is breathtaking. But this time it was different. Honduras is pretty enough, but that was not what touched my heart and left a mark. It was the people we met, the people who are living a life without meaning and the people whose lives have been touched by God and completely changed. I have seen two things while I have been here; the problems, the hunger, the desperation, the addiction... but most importantly what is being done with all this.

Pastor Jeony took us to a part of town where there´s a lot of streetkids and teenagers. They all know Jeony, and he has been going there visiting them for many years, bringing them food and sometimes clothes. We gave them New Testaments, bananas and oranges, and sat and talked to them for a good amount of time. It was sad to see a little three year old boy telling his mom he was cold, but his mom not being able to do anything about it. Or to see a 6 year old sniffing his bottle of glue while you beg him not to, telling him that God has better things in store for him.  Many of them do get the opportunity to start a new life though.  Projects like Casa Allianza and Micah help the young boys get out of the streets. One guy named Oscar was left ojn the streets when lost all of his family either due to death or abandonment  when he was 5, and by the age of 6 he was already on drugs. He hung around in the streets for many years until he met Michael Miller and the Micah project when he was 14. He then got an education, and now he´s 19 with a soccer scholarship in the States!

We also got to visit the City Dump (where they dump their trash). About 250 people live here and 1000 people come here every day to either find something to eat or to find something they can sell. The children earn about a dollar a day, while the men earn about three. Some cardboard boxes in serve as babysitters where the women leave their babies while they work all day. The kids cannot go to school because they need to help their family earn money. Jeony and some other people visit the Dump every day, bringing clean water, food, coffee, clothes.... They school that I was talking about in the last post, is for these kids that live and work in the Dump. Jeony has to pay their parents 50 cents each a day to make up for the work that they could have done. They now have a schoolbuilding (earlier the trees served as classrooms and the rocks as desks..) and his wife and sister and other volunteers work there as teachers. These people are truly missionaries, even though they are all from Honduras. They are making a difference and God is definately glorified through them!

It was really hard to leave Honduras, but I know that it will always have a place in my heart. And if God wills it, I´ll be back there in a second :)

NOw we are in Honduras! A beautiful country, I really like it here! We are working with a pastor 20 min from the capital Tegucigalpa. The city is located in between a lot of volcanos. The little town that we live in was built after the hurricane MItch in 1998, when the flood destroyed hundreds of houses and people was left without anything. A guy called Michael Miller and Red Cross built then this village with about 170 houses. We all stay with different families, and it is a great opportunity to get to know the culture and to hear peoples lifestory. The pastor we work with is a great guy, besides the church that they are planting here in this town, they are working with streetkids and have started a school for the kids that live where they dump the trash. The people who live here, have almost nothing, and the kids have to work a whole day earning less than a dollar a day. Thanks to these people who care enough to make a difference, the kids can get an education, get a new start, but most of all receive the love that is lacking but desperately needed.

Yesterday we went to look at the alfombras as they are called, it is actually a kind of rug made out of painted sawdust that they decorate the streets with. They put it out every Easter before the parade. It is a catholic event, but also very cultural for Honduras and the rest of Latin America. The city was full of people, so even though it was our evening off, the students started to evangelize, especially to a bunch of mormons, and also other people that wanted to talk. It was awesome to see how excited they are about talking about Jesus to others and challenge them to a different worldview and beliefs! Later that night, still in the city, we just started to sing a little bit, giving thanks to God, when a great crowd gathered aorund us to listen. The students did not let the opportunity go by, so they started to give testimonies and preaching! The response was great, and we got to pray for and talk to many people. God is definetely doing some good stuff here in this country! I am so thankful that I get to see and be a part of what He is doing!

We have been here in Costa Rica for about a week now, and it has been a wonderful start of the outreach.The dts has made a 45 min long drama that they are going to perform in different schools and churches. The theme starts with the Creation, sin and then the crucifiction and resurrection of Jesus. We have already performed it a couple of times, at a church and a rehab center for drug addicts. The rehab center was great! They were really excited about the drama and about thirty of them jumped up when we invited them to prayer for Salvation! This is the first time I have heard people being louder about Jesus then about their favorite soccer team winning the World Cup!!! Yesterday we also went to a  neighborhood where we had a presentation for kids. It´s a really poor place, where drugs are a huge problem. It´s the first time I´ve actually seen pot being sold in the open. After a while, this random lady came over to me and wanted to talk to me. She told me about her sad family situation, how she was a drug addict and alcoholic and that there were no money left for food for her kids. But despite this she knew that God loves her and that He has a plan for her life, but she just didn´t walk in the truth  that God can change her life if she just let Him. She had gone to church before, but had been hurt alot by people there, so she didn´t want to go back. I got to encourage her to step up and make a decision to change, and challenged her to find fellowship with other christians in the area, it was a really good time! We also got to bless her with some food for herself and her two kids, and let her know that God is her Provider and that she must put her trust in Him. I think it was just a big blessing for me to talk to her, to get to know her and understand a little bit more about how life is for people around here,  as it was for her to have someone to just listen to her.

So, God is doing some real good stuff here, and I´m excited for what good works He has prepared for us to do as we continue on to Honduras tonight!

To be continued....

Just wanted to leave a short message to say that I'm leaving for outreach tomorow morning! I'm sooo excited!! I'm flying up to San Jose, Costa Rica, while waiting for the rest of the dts to come on Saturday. Not because I couldn't survive an 18 hour busride.., it's a long story.. Okey, I'll tell you guys; When I left Norway in January, I had to buy a returnticket out of Panama (silly immigration rule) even though I already had a busticket to Costa Rica. It was very frustrating at the moment, because thought that I wouldn't be able to use it.. But then the outreach plans got changed (not very uncommon in YWAM), and Iselinn was pretty feliz when she realized that her planeticket was around the same dates!!

Letters and packages are a big deal down here. Especially among the students who are maybe away from home for this long time for the first time. So well thought of and written letters are welcomed with jumps of joy every time! Some girls just left to pick up their packages at the post office. It made me think; When was the last time I received a letter? I can't even remember.. But it might have something to do with the fact that we have a new address, and I haven't given it to anybody yet...! So here it is, and now you don't have any excuse to not write me!! ;)

Juventud Con Una Misión, Att: Iselinn Thorsen, Apartado 0850-00212, Panamá, Rép. de Panamá.

Janne, this is for you: linn_thor@hotmail.com