Through My Eyes: Missions, My Sponsor Child and Where I Want to Go

(Abby has recently started her own blog inspired by her love of writing this series. This blog was originally posted on Through My Eyes...)

Hey everybody! Today, I’m going to talk about what I have been thinking about doing with my life for quite a while. Missions is something that I used to look at and think “All the bug bites those people must get…” and I really never looked at the bigger picture. Last year at Bigstuf, I gave a bible to a little boy in Kenya named Bilha Njeri. That was when I first realized that missions were more than bug bites and living in a clay hut. Over the course of this past year, I have grown to love missions. I mean, at first I wasn’t like “Oh my gosh, I need to go save all the little children NOW!”  But now I’m definitely all about it.

I really started loving it about two or three months ago. One day, I was aimlessly walking down the hall at Bayshore when I came along this table with these pictures of kids on them. I look at each picture, seeing how old the kids are, where they live and stuff like that. So I venture back to my mothers desk and I say to her “Mom, I want one of those children.” On the way home, she goes “Call your nana, and maybe she will do the money part of everything.” So I call my Nana up and after various moments of explaining what it is and what I want, she agrees. That weekend, I make my sponsorship happen. I did it with One Child Matters and now, for 31 dollars a month, I sponsor Juana F. Reyes Fuentes, a 12 year old girl from Honduras. Juana lives with her parents and her four brothers and sister in a simple concrete blockhouse which lacks many amenities. Her father is a factory worker and their family appreciates what the Casa de los Ninos Child Development Center does for Juana. (I believe Casa de los Ninos is Children’s home in Spanish..) The place where Juana lives is in the community of La Joyada. In this agricultural region of southern Honduras, unemployment is very high. Malaria and worms often affect children, and medical treatment is expensive. Children have limited access to education and may be forced to work.

I cannot tell you how happy I was when we got her and Juana definitely means the world to me. I had to wait to get a packet to write Juana her first letter, and that took only forever…but when mom posted on my Facebook wall that my packet came while I was at Bigstuf, it only made my week so much better. Right when I got home, I made sure to write my letter perfectly. It took me almost 5-6 tries and several pieces of paper before I was confident enough to send it. I put the silliest picture of me and Lily, my dog, so that she could see me and put a smile on her face first thing, and the best picture of my family. I don’t know if she got my letter yet, but I hope Juana keeps it forever. I can’t wait for her first letter to me. I plan on writing her at least once a month, or however often I can. Really, Juana just boost my want to go places and meet kids in need.

This title also says where I want to go, right? What I have wanted to do since Bigstuf, is go to Uganda in Africa. Bigstuf this year really focused on missions, I feel, and Bob Goff made me want to go to Uganda. I want to go and help all the people and meet them and talk to them and its something I plan on paying for and doing before I turn 20. Yes. Before 20. I tell people this, and most of them are like “No, no! That’s dangerous!” but really, its just what I feel like I want to do. I feel like its what God wants me to do. I plan on asking for another child for Christmas, which is something I definitely want, and if that is my only Christmas present…I will think that it is the best Christmas present anyone has ever gotten me.

 

Through My Eyes…..God’s path is the one I am running down, and there is no way to stop me!!! 

Abby

Through my eyes: Bigstuf & Lake Aurora

Hey guys! I have had a FULL couple of weeks! This week is probably the first full week I have been home since my summer began. Today’s blog is going to be all about Bigstuf and camp at Lake Aurora!

So my first summer adventure I went on was Bigstuf! Bigstuf (if you don’t know and haven’t read any of my blogs before..) is a Christian  conference that is held in Daytona and Panama City for High School and Middle School students. Youth Groups from all over the country come to worship with the best of the best and listen to some of the most sought out speakers in America. This year was the 25^th Anniversary of Bigstuf!

This year’s theme for Bigstuf was Reality. We learned many things from various speakers. Jon Marc Comer was a preacher from Portland who talked about being followers of God and how to face reality with our faith. Jon Acuff, who is the blogger (like me!) of Stuff Christians Like, talked about our voice of fear. Bob Goff, the author of the book Love Does, talked about how your dreams can become a reality. He told a story about how he asked his kids a question. “What would you do if you had one minute with a world leader.” One of his kids says “Invite him to a slumber party!” I don’t know about you, but a slumber party sounds ridiculous. Bob goes on and he talks about how they mailed every single world leader on this earth and they end up getting 29 yeses to go to the slumber party. Bob and his kids travel around the world meeting all these world leaders and how his kids interviewed every single world leader. At the end of each interview, his kids would give the world leader the key to their house. The whole time I was thinking “This dude is nuts! He is craaaaaazy!” But Bob Goff had some pretty cool stories.                                      

Now the worship was pretty amazing. Phil Wickham was the worship leader again this year. We got to have Rend Collective lead worship, David Crowder was there (And I didn’t know he was as southern as he actually is…he is pretty southern.) and he was awesome!!

Ok, the Skit Guys were hilarious. Let me tell you, I haven’t laughed so hard in my life…they do half improv, half script. I would look them up if I were you. On YouTube. Right now. The two skits I recommend you watching is Little Billy: Zaccheaus and Hurting Help Line. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. I promise you will not be wasting your time.

One person is planning on giving their life to Christ, and I know I have said it a million times, but my good friend and fellow writer Bryce Buckland is doing that in a few months. So yay! Thank you Phil Wickham…your singing did the trick.  

Ok! So the Sunday after Bigstuf (So like 2 days..) I went to go Transform my self at Lake Aurora. I have gone for 7 years and every year, I always make new friends and learn new things. This year, we learned about sin, mercy, service, and sacrifice. It was a good week and even though I am not really a minimalist, I can survive. It’s a good camp, so if you don’t go, your missing out! That’s all for now!

And I am serious about the Skit Guys thing. You will be hooked.

Through My Eyes….Bigstuf and Lake Aurora are the places to be this summer and all the summers for the rest of my life (well….until I age out any ways..) 

Abby

Through My Eyes: Difficult Teachers, Bayshore Baptist Church, My Bible Confessions and Summer

Hey everyone! I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything for a while. But today, I am

going to talk about a few different subjects. I have had so much going on since I last posted (which is forever ago I know) and I hope to post a whole lot more in the future.

Channelside Academy is a great school. It has seriously changed my life. But one particular teacher is not exactly on my favorites list. Mr. Aparicio is my Spanish teacher. The language was a thing I have had to take for a while and Mr. A joined the staff this year. I know I am supposed to respect my authorities but when you have a teacher whom you just hate because of his personality? Let me tell you, his evaluation scores in the behavior section was not exactly what I think he could have hoped for from me. Romans 13 talks all about how we are supposed to submissive to our authorities. Romans 13:5 says “Therefore, it is necessary to submit to your authorites.” Mr. Aparicio is a hard teacher to deal with because of his bad discipline. One time I got in trouble for doing nothing! But you know what? I realized that in that very situation, I was doing exactly what Romans 13:5 says to do. I dealt with the consequence because my authority said to and if I was one of those people who argued, I would have probably brought home a behavioral notification that day.

Ok, y’all. Bayshore Baptist Church is now my prime hang out spot. I love this church. The church is amazing and everyone is so nice here! This week, I have volunteered to do VBS here and work at a station. Previously, I had thought that it was going to be fun and I was going to fit in just right and all the youth would notice me and I would make some friends. Well. I was wrong. I pretty much just sit in story time all day and help the leader. Yesterday, I had to be queen Esther and be stuck in a costume and a light up tiara most of the day (Thanks Tom!) The snacks were held in the Loft. (Oh yes, THE Loft. It is one of the coolest youth rooms I have seen. Its cool and boring at the same time.) But my mother said something that I realized that I was doing this for my love of ministry. She said “You just have to do your best for God. Don’t care about what anyone else will think. Just do it for God.” I’m here at Bayshore cause I delight in serving God, not just impressing anyone else. I have met some great, amazing, unique people at this church. And I come back because of the people who make the days I spend here AWESOME!!

So yes. I have this thing I like to call Bible problems. I am a good Christian girl. I pray everyday. I go to church pretty much and almost everyday of the week. I go to youth group events. You know, the normal. But the one thing I skip every single day that pretty much every single speaker I have heard stresses about is to read your Bible every day. Listen, guys, I am most certainly NOT a morning person. I would rather sleep in till 9-10 o’ clock than wake up at 6:30. I also used to think that the Bible was just a big boring book and that I knew all the stories. But recently, I have started seeing all these new perspectives on new stories and I realized the Bible isn’t such a boring book. It is filled with so much and I have only dug a tiny bit into His word. I hope to fix these Bible dilemmas.

This summer is jam packed with things to do. This week I am finishing VBS here at Bayshore, then I’m headed to Bigstuf again next week!! (I have a blog about last summer at Bigstuf; you should go check it out!) Then the week after that I have Lake Aurora. Then I am off to Texas with my grandparents, and Monday’s at NBCC with the Upward Soccer Clinics. Stop by and say hey or sign your kid up! It’ll be a awesome and fun way to get your kid into sport and my dad will be running the whole thing. Hope you guys have an awesome summer and I will blog again sometime soon.

Through My Eyes…respecting authorities is important even though you might not like that particular authority, volunteering for God has benefits, and there is so much more to the Bible than you think.

                                                            - Abby 

Through My Eyes...Appetites

At BigStuf, one of the discussions with Andy Stanley was about appetites. Appetites are something that all of us deal with. Appetites, yes, can be for food, or it can be for many other things (being the best at everything, love, friends, ect.) Andy says that (and I quote) appetites will “determine the direction and quality of your life. In fact, it will determine the quality and direction of your life even more than your theology.” Of course, I think he has a point. I think that appetites are for something that we desire so much, but it often spins slowly out of control. Andy talks about how we should take control of your appetites because if you don’t rule them, they will rule you. Appetites are desires. I know this is a short blog, but it gives you a whole lot to think about. What are your appetites? Are they controling you? The live stream is still up if you want to check it out.

Through my eyes...appetites are something you can rule or else they will rule you. 

Abby B.

Through my eyes...BigStuf

BigStuf. It’s what the teens rave about year after year. Now, I understand completely why. BigStuf is an amazing conference/camp that can really change your heart, soul, and mind. It was my introduction into the Full Student Ministry program and what an intro it was!

Many speakers presented different views on many different topics that I haven’t thought about. Many testimonies were given and in the end, it showed me how God worked through each of those people in their problems. Andy Stanly gave me an understanding on how we as teens and adolescents get to get life right the first time. Judah Smith asked the question Is Jesus enough? and put it into a funny (yet serious) conversation. He explained that Jesus will satisfy all needs in life. Pattie Mallette (Justin Beiber’s mom) gave a fantastic testimony about her various problems. The organization, To Write Love on Her Arms talked about Renee, 25, who went through depression, self injury, and other problems, but God helped her through it. Singers like Phil Wickham, Mac Powell of Third Day, Mike Donehey of Tenth Avenue North, Aaron Shust, Natalie Grant, Trevor Morgan, Rend Collective, Shane & Shane, and Laura Story took the stage and worshiped with us.

BigStuf has connections with many organizations that help people all over the world. The 410 Bridge, a organization created by BigsStuf, sends Bibles to kids in Kenya. I was able to donate a Bible to a little boy named Bilha Njeri. I took a picture with a note written in his native language, Swahili. The picture of me is in the Bible I sent him.

Group time allowed our youth group to talk about what the speakers said. Justin asked us various questions like what would you want your future self to tell you now? or what would you tell your younger self? This was a time for us to talk and bond as a group.
Through my eyes...BigStuf is an AMAZING experience for everyone……students AND sponsers. There are still some livestreams up! Wanna be a sponser next year?

Abby B.