ADE's Zero Down: Biblical Development Conference

I hope you enjoyed the videos I made for our first ever conference. I'm getting really excited as we'll be hosting this bilingual conference really looking at the difficult questions of mission and development and how to do them in the most biblical way possible. We'll have different speakers, but the biggest part (I think) will be all the different people, with their views and experiences, coming together and seeking the answers together.

We're partnering with Esepa Seminary, Fedemec, and Ted and Graciela Quiocho from CHE to bring together a pretty sweet conference. Together we're compiling a great group of speakers and participants, including Juan Stam (pending on some health issues). It's going to be pretty awesome for sure! I'll be doing a lot of prep for this over the next couple of months which will definitely keep me busy.

So if you're at all interested in any of these things: check out the website (www.glocalADE.org/conf) or send me an email!

In the Spanglish Middle

*I recommend playing this song as your read the rest...

It's a weird thing to live somewhere between two languages. I feel like it's something you can't really understand until you've been forced to do it yourself and even then people's experiences differ greatly. I've been here in Costa Rica for almost 2 years now and after coming with absolutely no Spanish a lot has changed.

I literally came here never having learned any Spanish. I had studied German in high school and again in college and even studied abroad in Germany and Austria. My German had gotten good (though please don't ask about it now). When I moved here, pretty much all I could say was "hola" and "gracias". To give you a better idea of how that affected everything here's something one of my first students said about a year after I came (in Spanish of course): "Lindsey, I didn't like you when I first met you. You didn't say anything to us. I mean...I guess you couldn't. But now I love you!"

It was incredibly challenging. It took many headaches and many confusions and blank stares. I like to tell people that language learning is both humbling and humiliating. Now I've come a long way (still have a long way to go of course as well). I'm still living in a community that speaks a language that is not the one I am most comfortable with. It's not the language that I've known all my life, lived in, and studied in for years. It's not the one I've sung in or read in or prayed in.

But now that my life is in this other language, I've come to see that I want and maybe even need many of those more "optional" areas to be in Spanish also. I'm trying (slowly) to read a book in Spanish. I've come to pray some in Spanish. And I've come to love worshipping the Lord through song in Spanish (at times).

Yet there's always a balance I need and an in between can often be better for me and my soul. That's one of the reasons that songs (like the one above), movies, and even conversations that are in both Spanish and English in some form or another have been the most positive for me and even something I've found myself craving for. I can tell you, it's a weird thing as I never had any desire to learn Spanish but God has brought me so far not only in my ability but also in my desire and even joy in speaking it. He's good!

(Hope you enjoyed my little ramble about something I've been thinking about a lot recently.)

Thanks for reading, friends!

Ruth, Boaz & God's Providence

On my way down to Virginia last week, I listened to a series of sermons from my home church on Ruth. As I listened to them I got so pumped and excited about the goodness and sovereignty of God! You can ask just about anyone I saw in the following days that I recommended listening to them, because I was so personally encouraged. Someone once told me that the best sermons are not those you walk away saying, "Wow, what a great preacher" but instead saying "Wow, what a great God." That's the only thing I could think during the 6 hour drive to Blacksburg with my parents sleeping while I drove.

Here's a few specific thoughts of mine:

• God's providence really is over everything and people historically didn't have as hard a time believing that as many of us do.
• If I really believe that God is both completely sovereign and completely good, my perspective on life will be drastically different.
• Naomi tried to get Ruth to go home, but she committed to stay - Often I too don't see the deep need for people to know my God because I think it'd be easier for them where they came from. But by Ruth committing to Naomi and Naomi's God, she got to be a part of history!
• Boaz was a "worthy" man...I want one of those  :)

Listen to these sermons! Click here and you won't regret it.

I hope you're as encouraged as I am. 

Here's one of my favorite songs right now, which fits in well with this theme:

Newest Favorite Song

The other night I heard this song again (it's been a while) and it quickly got stuck in my head in the best way possible. Then this morning at church it was sung during offering. Amazing. So I thought I'd share it with you all!

Dame tus ojos quiero ver

Dame tus palabras, quiero hablar

Dame tu parecer

Dame tus pies, yo quiero ir

Dame tus deseos para sentir

Dame tu parecer

Dame lo que necesito

Para ser como tu

// Dame tu voz, dame tu aliento

Toma mi tiempo es para ti

Dame el camino que debo seguir

Dame tus sueños, tus anhelos

Tus pensamientos, tu sentir

Dame tu vida para vivir //

Déjame ver lo que tu vez

Dame de tu gracia, tu poder

Dame tu corazón

Déjame ver en tu interior

Para ser cambiado por tu amor

Dame tu corazón

--

(Basic translation)

Give me your eyes, I want to see

Give me your words, I want to speak

Give me your likeness

Give me your feet, I want to go

Give me your heart, so I can feel

Give your opinion

Give me what I need

To be like you

/ / Give me your voice, give me your breath

Take my time, it is for you

Give me the way I should go

Give me your dreams, your desires

Your thoughts, your feeling

Give your life to live / /

Let me see what you see

Give me your grace, your power

Give me your heart

Let me see inside you

To be changed by your love

Give me your heart

Let the extracurriculars begin!

This week, was a whirlwind of reading stories, studying together, and creating poems. Here is the ADE high school schedule for extracurricular classes:

Monday: Creative Writing (led by intern Leigh Anne Coble)
Wednesday: Tutoring
Thursday: Spoken-word poetry (led by intern Angeley Crawford)
Friday: Soccer

**Click here to read and see more about the classes**

Viví. Vivo. Viviré.

So I lived in the cabin, then moved into the Dozier house for a week and now I'm down living at the center! Let's just say it's been an exciting few weeks. The owner of the cabin that I was living in (that had been free rent for the past few months), just sold it. Then we had a visitor and all lived at the Dozier house. Now Kim, Mikki, and I are all living down at the center.

You can watch this video that Tim, past intern and awesome writer, just put together the other week. He was living there, but now he's gone and us girls are there. Enjoy :)

Video of Spring Break!

Hope you enjoy and it gives you a good understanding of the week with our college student visitors.

My First Month

I'll try to write more again soon and put up more pictures. I've been here for almost a month. I'm learning a ton and growing so much. It's definitely not easy and I'm very grateful for your support, encouragement and prayers.

Thank you, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!