Francisco Canaro - La Cumparsita

I just need this for a Spanish presentation and this was the easiest way to transport it.. Please disregard as it pertains to my life in no way.

sincere apologies

You know what... after reading back on all my previous posts, and browsing other peoples' blogs, I realized how splendid short posts are. If a post doesn't grab my attention in the first minute, I am not inclined to read on. I feel quite sorry for those who, in the past, have suffered through endless paragraphs of my thoughts and experiences. So, I am now going to make a real effort to keep my ramblings "reigned in" so to speak.

Welcome to my new, abridged Blog.

Manda

about time.

Just in case Charisa reads this, I thought I'd write something at least a little current.

I guess my schooling has been taking priority over this little blog that I once kept oh-so-up-to-date... so that's why it has taken about 6 months to write something. Basically all that's happened in my life you already know about. and the rest is insignificant.

I could put up some pictures of the wedding. but you've already memorized them all.

anyways, that's all i got. thanks for coming out.

reim-time

"Summer"

That was quick. It is now Labour Day. Tomorrow I am headed to Kwantlen for my first day of university.

Am I terrified? quite.

Reflecting on my summer, I see that it was a summer of reflection. Now that it's done, I really couldn't have asked for a more well laid out time. I started off my summer on my first ever job-hunt. Fairly discouraging and ultimately ending poorly, I gave up after about 3 weeks. Once I admitted defeat, thinking "Maybe God doesn't want me to work this summer", my brother's fiancée e-mailed me telling me about a job where she used to work. So I called and immediately got the job, just by mentioning her name. :)

After working about a day there, I realized that my last summer of mind-numbing activities had been enough for me and I needed to get away. But I had no other job so I persevered... until an opportunity to work construction came up. I then began working full time at the YVR airport as a contract labourer! Everything about that job fit me perfectly. Driving out there gave me ample time to think and reflect. I got to use the muscles I had grown while building in Panama. The tasks that I was doing were basically the same as what I had done in Panama. (shoveling, lifting, carrying, laying cement) There was a Colombian guy on my crew who spoke Spanish. My boss was a Christian, and his goal was to see his workers grow and come to know the Lord! And in the end, it left me with enough money that I can spend wherever I want... like tuition. yay. But it really was a blessing from my God and Provider and it reminds me that he is with me even here.

Because of this full-time job that constantly used up my energy, I found myself at home a lot. I went out very infrequently this summer, which was a special thing. I have been enjoying the company of my family and am forever thankful for the way they love and encourage me. We had the chance to drive down to Fresno to visit and bring Stewart home. We spent the last week relaxing and being HOT. (seeing as I missed summer here... must've blinked or something)
I left a day earlier then my family so that I could make it home for Fred and Nicole's Wedding. Fred did Trek in Germany, so a bunch of my friends from Trek were going to make an effort to be there. (Including the Miller's from Iowa).

So, Thursday night I caught a 24 hour train ride back up to Canada. Needless to say, 26 hours turned into 32 hours and God taught me all about patience on the way up!! I really want to look back on that and be frustrated because I got home so late, but I can't. Because God gave me a perfect opportunity to share about His Son and His grace with a woman named Helen who He put next to me. An opportunity I would not have had if the train hadn't have been so incredibly slow. It was exciting to feel a prompting in my heart to speak and to have someone who wanted to listen! Thank you Jesus for planting a seed in her heart. I ask now, in faith, for you to water it so that Helen's life would be changed.
After my older sister picked my up around 4 am, I went home and quickly rested my stiff, train-weary body. The next day at the wedding, I got to see a bunch of my friends again. We got a chance to reconnect, encourage and hear how everyone else was handling their post-Trek lives. A few of us hung out the rest of the weekend and enjoyed the good friendships we had created in such an intense part of our lives! Now I am praising God for blessing me with this summer. He's still teaching and stretching me and I'm still stumbling towards His throne. But it's all good.

Psalm 44:3

It was not by their sword that they won the land,

nor did their arm bring them victory;

it was Your right hand, Your arm,

and the light of Your face, for you loved them.

So what happens now?

"How was Panama??"

"What are you doing in the fall??"

These are the two questions that I have been asked most frequently since coming home. Although they are great questions and I really strongly desire to answer them to the best of my abilities, I just have no clue.

A part of me wants to panic and worry and choose something rash. But another part of me, the more recently discovered part, wants to be patient and wait for the LORD my God. I know that he has a plan for me and I know it is a good plan. Jeremiah understood how it is...

Jeremiah 10:23
I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own;
it is not for man to direct his steps.

So about the fall, nothing's set in stone. You can join me in prayer as I seek out whether God would have me go to University to start preparing myself for nursing, OR that I take another year away from school and volunteer with the TREK internship program.

Still in debt to His Grace,

Amanda

Here I Stand, Open Hand. Waiting.

For the past two weeks of debrief, we studied this chapter in Isaiah as a group. Going through each verse carefully, we discovered the depth and applicability of this particular passage. Returning from a time of learning, serving, and growth, one could very accurately label all of us as 'thirsty'. In this chapter of Isaiah, I found incredible encouragement and life. The LORD was inviting me to Himself. And it was up to me to answer.

Isaiah 55
Invitation to the Thirsty

1 "Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.

2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

3 Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.

4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander of the peoples.

5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and nations that do not know you will hasten to you,
because of the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendor."

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

12 You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD's renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed."

So thank the LORD with me that my Debrief time was such an incredible refreshment and not a time spent anxiously awaiting the day when I'd get to go home. He was certainly present and moving in my life as he assured me that my time spent in Panama was not in vain (verse 10-11). God is faithful. He will keep my foot from slipping and he will take care of my needs!

Still Stumbling Towards Grace,

Amanda Reimer

Debrief.

It still feels pretty surreal, but I'm finding myself back in beautiful British Columbia. I left Panama on Saturday in a flurry of tearful goodbyes, not fully ready to come back to this other life. I know that it was the right time to leave, however I really felt that time happened way to fast. But now I am here, and I am ready to face the next two weeks head-on.
I will now be spending the next two weeks in Abbotsford together with all the other teams. The point of this time is to reflect on the past 7 months, reach proper closure, and prepare for re-enry into Canadian culture. I feel like this is going to be an important time for our team and also for me personally. I know it's pretty close to the end before I see you all, but if you're still praying please pray for these next two weeks. Pray that God would bring to light any problems that need resolving and also that as we begin to tell the stories of what happened in our respective countries, that God would have ALL the glory.

Still with Much Gratitude,

Amanda

Saying goodbye to Maje.

Here We Go Again.

Tonight we leave again. Whereas last time we left for the jungle, we were headed for the unknown, this time we are plunging back into where we left off. I know that it will be easier in some ways, but I am also totally prepared for and expecting God to challenge me in completely different ways.

As I leave for another long time without communication, I want to ask you to pray without ceasing. It's hard a lot of the time to continue praying when you don't see or hear results. But nonetheless, your prayers are what is keeping me and my team going here in Panama.

Some specific things to pray for would be the alcoholism in Maje. This past week, we were told that since we've been there, the alcohol consumption rate has dropped significantly among the youth! Praise the Lord that he can use just our presence there as a way for his gospel to be shared. Not once in that time did any of us mention anything about this subject and yet there has been improvement. Knowing this, pray that we'd continually remember that we are his ambassadors wherever we are. 

As well, I ask that you would pray for continued strength and health spiritually, emotionally, and physically as we battle the jungle elements and maintain our busy work schedule. Pray that as a team we would have an attitude that is ready to be used and focus on the work at hand. 

As we approach our final time here, I also want to ask that you'd join me in prayer for what God has planned for my future. I have been presented with the opportunity to do the TREK internship next year and I have yet to decipher if this is what God wants me to do. Coming out of this time, I want to be willing to give God anything he asks of me and go where he calls me. 

Thank you all once again for all the prayers and encouragement.

 

A Quick Breath

Right now, I'm sitting on a couch. For you, that's an everyday occurrence. For me, it's a feeling that my butt had almost forgotten.
Three days ago we piled onto the boat to take the night voyage out of Maje. Yes, we are out of the jungle and once again involving ourselves in the happenings of this world. Right now however, I am sitting in Costa Rica in the Pura Vida Missions Facility. Tomorow our 3 month visas expire so we were required to leave Panama. Coming out of Maje happened in such a rush that I'm only now finding time to stop and breathe. For the last few days, Luke Haidle, our TREK leader (along with his new wife Joanne and TREK Intern Greg) came for sort of a midterm check-up/a bit of teaching time (in English!!!).  Time with them was short, but nonetheless valuable. It was a time where problems were resolved, spirits were lifted through encouragement, and knowledge was gained in teaching. (And wedding rings were lost in the River... ask Luke about that story. I'm sure he's over the shame of it by now.) 

I have a lot to share about the last 2 months of my life, but I know that I'm not going to be able to communicate it all in this one blog. We're headed back 

out to Maje in a week or two so I will try to give you a small but accurate picture of what's taken place before we leave again.

I left off at the end of January, where we were still sitting around in Chepo just wanting to pile onto the boat and go. On the 11th of February we had a chance to go to a youth camp for all of Panama's Indigenous groups. We went to the camp basically as the chaperones specifically of the Wounaan youth. This time for me was one of the sweetest times that I had experienced up to that point. There we were able to connect with the youth in the setting of a casual summer camp. Every day of that 5 day camp was a blessing for me because of the things

 that happened and the relationships that were started. After it was done I found myself not wanting to go to Maje anymore. We'd finally begun having relationships with the Wounaan in Chepo and now we were leaving them.  So with a little resentment I piled into a boat that would take me into yet another unknown. 

Arriving in Maje, I was filled with so much joy just at the beauty and splendor of creation.

 It took us the first week to get into the groove of the daily working schedule and to learn how to effectively make cement bricks. After the first week our missionaries left for a conference in the city. They planned to be gone for less than a week but God was thinking otherwise. Both of them ended up being hospitalized and ended up staying out of Maje for over three weeks. Them being gone, for me was quite a blessing. It gave us a chance to make decisions on our own as a team of seven. I felt like it was more challenging for us to be alone but it definitely contributed to a time of growth for us as a team. 

I'll give you a quick overview of a typical work week for us in Maje. In the mornings we'd get up at 6:45 (or earlier) to have devotional time, eat breakfast and get ready to work for 8:00. The morning was the time for the physical labour as we worked on building the latrines. We worked until lunch, some making bricks and others pasting them. After lunch, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we'd head to the school to teach English. In the beginning, on Tuesdays and Thursdays we would do kids day camps at the church.  After the third week we had that time free, to plan other things, or just to wash your laundry. Fridays in the evening, we did youth nights. Each of these different areas of ministry have all been really special in their 

own way. 

However, one of the more challenging parts about living in Maje is the fact that the ministry isn't limited to these planned activities. We are living in the middle of the village and are constantly surrounded by the Wounaan, our ministry target. Whether we are walking down the path, sitting under a tree or bathing at the river, the people will want to talk to you as soon as they see you. 

Therefore, there is rarely time to escape the reason why we were there. Even if I want to go use the pay phone to call my family,

 I will talk to 11 different people on the way there, then as I talk on the phone, approximately 6 children will be standing around watching me talk. It's a life that I've really come to enjoy! 

Asking God for strength and enthusiasm has become a daily habit for me and I've learned to depend on His strength rather than my own. 

One thing that they are teaching me, besides their language, is the idea of being generous. They are always wanting to give you fruit or an entire meal or even something that they 

just bought from the store for themselves. These people are really special and 

I've begun to feel accepted as one of their own there. 

For one of our youth nights a few weeks ago, we decided to have a campfire/worship night. We decided that a few people should share their testimonies just because it was the perfect atmosphere. Well, one of the things that I am realizing here is just that no one is going to challenge me to do something that I don't want to do. If I am feeling like I could go to the next level in trusting God and allowing Him to work in my life, that needs to be my decision. In our planning meeting we decided that testimonies would 

be a good idea, but when it came to who would share, the hut fell silent. 

Even though sharing my testimony in front of 50 youth was the last thing that wanted to do, I heard a voice in my head reminding me that I have to take the opportunities that I am given. So I volunteered, along with Andrew, to share my testimony, in Spanish, with my new friends. The fire was planned for Friday and I knew Friday wasn't my turn to 

teach English, so I would have a good five hours to write out my testimony and practice it in Spanish to a point where I wouldn't be entirely petrified of sharing it. The thing is that if you're giving God this opportunity to work, you'd better be ready for him to teach you lessons. 

Here's the account of God working in my life that day. I got up in the morning and headed off to work. I was making bricks in the church with Natalie and Carolina. A man named Fabio came to help us out (probably because we were three girls) and helped us make the cement mixture. Anyways, we ended up adding too much water to the cement mixture. When that happens, the whole work day tends to be super slow and frustrating. But surprisingly, it wasn't. Natalie ended up leaving because she was sick, and my friend Erudelia came to help us as well. 

So it ended up being a good day chatting with Fabio for my first time. We also ended up working an extra hour in order to finish with the 35 that we have to make each day. 

The whole day, I was sort of thinking about later in the evening when I would have to share my testimony. I was comforted by the fact that I still had enough time to write and practice it. So I walked back to the house an hour later than usual to enjoy my lunch. As I was sitting there in my dirty work clothes eating my rice and beans, I was informed that I would be teaching English that day. The other three fluent English speakers on my team had fallen ill and would not be able to make it to the school. It was super hard, but in that moment I had to relinquish my right to have free time that afternoon. Chris figured out that I could teach the first 

class with Mafe and then Mafe could teach the second class on her own, leaving me with less than two hours to write a Spanish testimony and get it to the point where I was comfortable. Although I was less than pleased, I finished eating my lunch, cleaned myself up and headed off to the school. After teaching for two hours, I headed home quickly to find a spot alone to figure out what I was going to say. (and when I say 'quickly' I mean I only got stopped by 4 different people to talk.)  Writing out my testimony took the whole two hours I had and before I knew it I was walking to the field where we would have the fire. As I walked with Andrew I admitted that I felt less than prepared to give my testimony to the youth. So we prayed as we walked. We prayed for the Holy Spirit to use us and use the fact that we were doing this despite the fact that it isn't even our language and maybe our stories don't even relate to the Wounaan youth. At the field, I handed it to Mafe to check it over quick for grammar and before I knew

 it we were starting. As we sang a few songs, I felt relatively calm over the fact that I was just about to stand up in front of all these youth plus the 80+ children and the 45+ adults who were attracted by the light of the fire. 

When the time came, surprisingly I wasn't shaking violently and wanting to throw up. The actual part of sharing, I don't really remember. I'm pretty sure it went well. I was able to make them laugh a little by trying to speak a little in their language. 

After I sat down again with my friends I said "I don't know how to speak" and then one of my little Wounaan friends, Shanita said to me, "That doesn't matter to God, Amanda." and t

hen another one chipped in with "

And it doesn't matter to us either!" And then I realized something; God has the ability to use my words, whether they make sense or not, to speak to these people. In fact, he prefers to use us when we are weak. It reminded me of that verse in 2 Corinthians 12.

 

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

Maybe if I had spent all 5 of those hours working on my testimony and then practicing it, I might have gotten to the point where I would have thought, "Yeah, I can do this. 

I feel comfortable with what I have written here." Whereas in reality, I felt rushed in my preparation and unconfident in what I had to say. If the situation was the first one, my attitude would have been wrong and there would have been no room for the Holy Spirit to work.  I would have felt like I could do it on my own, which I really couldn't have. 

The next day, as Nat and I were fishing out in the ocean, I had a little time to reflect and thank God for the way that things went with all that. I was thankful that He was in control of my life and not me. Reflecting, I could see so many examples of the Lord blessing me that day. One of the things that I shared 

in my testimony is the idea of daily coming to the feet of Jesus and allowing him to bless me as I remain faithful to him. I shared with them how I consider the fact that I am there with them in the middle of the jungle a blessing. They told me that I could continue living in Maje in the abandoned hut if I wanted! Sweet!  

Anyways, this has been a bit of a long-winded blog. As soon as I am back in Chepo and I find my missing journal, I'll share a little more of how God's been answering prayers. Again I want to say thank you for those prayers. I have felt God with me in the last few months and like always, it's super comforting. A few specific things to pray for would be the health of Einer and Girlesa. After their surgeries they still don't feel 100%. Also, two of our Columbian team members are in Columbia right now, renewing their visas. Both of them aren't sure if they will have enough money to return here so they are hoping that the Lord will provide. I know as well that our team would appreciate prayer as we take the things that we were taught last week by Luke and apply them to our time here. Pray that by God's strength, 

we would move forward in our relationships with each other and also with God. As we start April, I am realizing that we have less than two months left. As we try and finish strong and keep the focus here in Panama, pray that God would use us and guide us daily. You can pray that we would never tire of listening for his voice and obeying. 

I love you all. Thanks for having my back these past few months. 

(a map of Maje drawn by the children)

Thus Ends January.

This month, we made it to Panama. But, you already knew that. We've now joined the ranks of the other trekkers battling at the front lines in their respective countries. Again, like Guatemala, it's hard to believe that this first month is already up! The thing that has sort of been good and bad about being here is the fact that we are now doing stuff. (and when I say stuff, it's deeper than it sounds) I'll explain a little. Back in Guatemala, I used to wish that I was in Panama because I didn't ever feel like I was accomplishing anything. But now that I am here, I sometimes find myself wishing I was back in Guatemala because in reality it was far easier.
For us, January has been filled with important lessons and realizations and could even be called challenging. First of all, being here has been a blessing spiritually. We now spend every day with our team of nine. The man at the head is Einer; a discipleship fanatic who is eager to see us grow and be challenged. (can't really go wrong there) Here, we have the chance to learn from, and share in fellowship with others apart from the four of us.
Upon our arrival, the plans were to head to the jungle within the first two weeks. But because Chris wasn't with us, we didn't have Visas and numerous other reasons, we never went. Day by day we realize why it was in God's plans to keep us here. After multiple other changes in the plans, we settled on doing 2 weeks worth of day camps for the different Wounaan churches in the area. It was a really busy two weeks where we learned to work more as a team of nine rather than four. Included in that time, we had two days with the youth. Personally, I had an amazing time hanging with the youth those days. Those few days with them also gave us that opportunity to connect with them a little before we plunge into the week long youth camp that is coming up in February. At one of these youth days we had our first taste of effective ministry where we worked in unity with God at the center. That day God was able to use us to impact a life.
The fact that we are here in Chepo and still not in Maje (the jungle) has also given us time to get to know the culture of the Wounaan people a little more. We have been learning how Einer views Maje as a precious treasure that he is hesitant to pass around. And I don't blame him. It has taken them almost 5 years to get where they are with the people. With all the things that have happened and the things that we have learned as a group this month, I can see where if we would have gone to Maje earlier on, we had more potential to fail. So praise the Lord that he is in control and NOT us. Staying here has also given us time to prepare for the three months of English classes that we will be teaching in Maje. Because we aren't actually teachers, I've really been finding this time quite valuable.
It has also been a blessing because being here in Chepo on a more relaxed ministry schedule has really allowed us to ease into ministry and also make some changes to the team situation. This month I experienced God working directly in my life involving our relationships within the team. If it hasn't come across in any of my other updates, things within the team definitely weren't perfect. Together, we are maturing in our faith and learning to effectively encourage and support each other. Anyways, I'll spare you all the bland details and skip to the bible reference that describes what I went through here.

Psalm 40

1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.

3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.

Since the improvements to the team, I feel like we've been refreshed and are prepared for Maje. I know that there's still a lot of work and prayer to be done in this area, but we've got four more months and God is good. We've spent quite a bit of time sitting in the immigration office waiting. But today I am excited to report that we have our two month visas and we'll be heading to the jungle around the 19th of February!

On a more personal level, I am learning a lot about the importance of fully depending on God. I've tried to do days without Him and boy have they ended miserably! I get frustrated, discouraged and make people not want to be with me. Most of what we're doing takes place in the afternoons, so we have mornings for preparation and planning. I am discovering that this planning time is when I need to have my guard up most because I am very susceptible to forgetting to involve the Lord. But God's been good to me. He never fails to take me back into his arms.

This is one of my journal entries from this month:

Day 22 - "I think I'm settling in pretty well here. Yesterday I felt cold for the first time since arriving. It may have had something to do with the fact that Nat and I were wet for two hours after a mud fight with the kids that went wild. Therefore, we pulled out the toques. I want to say that it's because we are getting used to the heat, but I just don't know if that will ever happen... We've done a lot in the past 21 days. Day Camps have taken up most of our time. We planned some really applicable lessons for them. The themes were: Be a friend to everyone, be a friend of God, you can be a friend of God if you care for his creation and when you obey you're parents. All of these themes had an accompanying craft, song, drama, memory verse and games. Seriously I came into this with so many fears and worries. "How on earth will we stretch this out for four hours?" "Do these kids even speak?" "I don't know how to explain this game and it's my turn..." But in all this, a technique was established. Ask God for strength and do all that you possibly can. Lead the song about 'Gozo' (joy), and do it with all the strength in your vocal cords. Don't hold back, because that's what the kids will remember and it will definitely warm your heart. It's a lot easier when you instantly have 45 friends who can't really remember your name but remember quite well the song that you taught about gozo or the song about the frog. But it's interesting how all the worries and fears I had just drifted away and how things have gone so smoothly. Not once have I lacked energy to be with kids and it's been 11 straight days. Although sometimes I do have to say 'No' due to the fact that I might throw up from spinning children. I think they understood. The verse in my head today is Isaiah 40:30-31 "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.""

As always I am still in need of your support.

-You can pray specifically this month as we make the final preparations before heading out. Ask that God would continue to prepare us as well as those in Maje.

-You can still be praying that our Spanish would continue to improve daily and that we'd be increasingly excited to talk to others and form lasting relationships.

-Also you can pray for us as we start learning a little Wounaan Meu (the indigenous language) and get more involved with the people.

-The 11th-16th of February, we are helping out at a Youth Camp for the 5 different indigenous groups in Panama. Pray that this would be a time where the fruits of the Spirit are shown in abundance. Ask that the Lord would guide us as we build our relationships and the we'd give God every opportunity we have.

-Continued team unity between the four of us and also the nine of us as well. And that collectively we'd be listening for the Lord's voice in the decisions that we make.

With Sincere Christian Love,

Amanda Reimer

Job 33:14 - "For God does speak- now one way, now another- though man may not perceive it."