Partnering with the CHILOMBIA team!

Hey everyone! Time has been flying by and my team leaves for Colombia in less than a month! It is getting really exciting, but at the same time a little sad when thinking about leaving all my friends here that are going to other outreach locations. But it's pretty amazing to see how many nations just this quarter of DTS's are going to be reaching. Throughout the last 2 months we have been learning a lot about the character of God and through that how we are supposed to live out our lives. This week of lectures was on Destiny by Design. It was probably one of my favorite weeks. Ever since thinking about coming on this DTS, I felt like I wanted to come so that I could grow closer to God and through that, understand and learn more about what God is calling me to do with my life. The week started out with us thinking back to what things we used to love to play while we were young right up until what we enjoy doing right now. I remember that I always loved playing house and taking care of other people... I loved playing outside, building forts and attempting to make treehouse, I LOVED baking and helping mom cook and clean, and I really liked making music videos and skits. As I got older I continued to love to be outside (hiking, running, sports..), and I still really enjoy baking, taking care of people, and helping out where ever I am needed. After doing this exercise we did a little personality test thing... Surprisingly out of the options of Inward/Outward, I was inward, out of step-by-step or big picture, I was step-by-step, out of planned or spontaneous, I was planned, and out of head or heart, I was head. If you don't know me that well.. these are not surprising at all and anyone who knows me probably could of guessed all these answers. After the personality test, we answered some questions and found out what our motivational gifts were. All the motivational gifts were mercy, leader/administration, giving, exhortation, teaching, serving, prophetic/perceiver. My top two were giving and serving. Going through all these tests and trying to remember things about what we used to love to do and what are talents and passions are now were done in attempt to lead us to a conclusion about what God has ultimately created us to do. God knows us each individually and has instilled in us things that we love to do and things that we are good at for a reason. Jeremiah 1:5 says - "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations". In this scripture it is specifically talking about how God knew Jeremiah from before he was born and created him with the talents and gifts particular for his calling as a prophet, and in the same way God knows each one of us and gave us gifts and talents to live out the calling He has for our lives.
I don't feel like I know 100% what God has planned for me (which is ok cause I am learning to take one day at a time and not be too focused on my 'planning' personality trait) but going through this week has definitely helped me understanding more of what I love to do and what direction God wants me to go in. I have always loved being with kids and I know that God has given me the gift of caring for children and taking care of them and so for a while now I have felt that meant teaching. Although that could be the case, this week I felt God showing me another bigger plan that he has that wouldn't be my nice comfortable choice that I would probably go for. Throughout university I have had a growing desire to help people in extreme conditions of poverty and people that lack opportunities to change their ways of life. I feel specifically I want to work in poor communities (locally and/or globally) in developing better education facilities and systems. This could mean helping start schools in areas where education was never an option, or could mean going to an area where the education system is falling apart. I have always been able to take charge when necessary and I feel like God has given me this for a reason. Also, a very important aspect of "my big dream" is that I want to empower the people of the community to stand up and take charge of the changes that need to made. I don't want to go into a community and make a change, leave, and then have it fall apart. On the other hand of my dream would be that I definitely want to share with them who God is and show it through my actions. Ultimately I can help try and make changes happen on education level through the world's eyes, but if people don't come to know their creator and who they are in God, these worldly successes won't last or be fulfilling. I want to see children and their families rise up and become who they are in God. I want everyone to know who they are and know how their lives can be with God. I have lived an extremely blessed life and I want others to know that they too can have that and share it with others.
I know my dream is big, and it definitely can change depending on what God wants for me, but it has been really interesting to see what God is showing me about how the talents, gifts, and desires He has placed within me that is ultimately there for the purpose is is calling me to.
Prayer Requests: I would like prayer for not becoming overwhelmed with what I feel like God wants me to do, but also remember that I just have to take one day at a time. Also just being confident in what God is telling me and not get confused with what I, or other people, feel about it.

Team Chilombia! Carly, Kelsey, Weston, Noah, and Javier are all from the US, Grace is from South Korea, Swantje is from Germany, Marita is from Norway, and Brad is from Canada! (and I swear I wasn't frowning in the picture, it just looks like that :s)

Also, I wanted to tell everyone a little more about my outreach. We leave for Colombia on December 12. We are flying from Hawaii to LA, and then from LA to Bogota, Colombia. About mid-January we will be heading off to Chile! And this week we decided as a team that we are going to be taking a longer trip there due to cost. We are going to flying from Bogota to Peru, then from Peru to the border of Chile we are taking a bus, then from the border of Chile to Santiago we are taking another bus (i think we are taking a taxi in between the two buses) and then from Santiago to Pichilemu we are taking another bus... We will be travelling over 55 hours and that doesn't include any break downs or any other hold ups that are bound to happen... This is going to be a very long trip.. please pray for us! But actually I think it will be a fun adventure with more opportunities to talk with people... being that they will be stuck on a bus with us ! haha. (plus for some reason I have always wanted to go to Peru.. so even though we are only driving through, I still get to go! :D). Within the two countries we will be doing various things such as, sport ministries (soccer, volleyball, and surfing - I think I'll probably come back home a pro surfer ;)), church visits, spending time with the Guambiano people in Colombia, mini DTS, a VBS, and whatever else we are led to do! If you would like to join me and my team on this adventure it would be greatly appreciated! We need both financial support and prayer! Outreach fees are due this coming week and we know that God has the ability to provide :D The total amount that is still needed for the team is just over 6000$. The prayer requests are numerous but here are just a few :D

• Unity among the team 
• Safety and sanity during the traveling :D
• openness for the people we meet 
• boldness in each activity we do and knowing that God is our leader so we have nothing to worry about
• Continual growth in our faith and being open to what God wants us to do (there are a lot of planners on the team!)

Thank you all so much ! If you have any questions about how to donate or any other questions about what I am learning or about the outreach please feel free to ask! You can facebook message me or email me as well  -  rachael_adams14@hotmail.com

Rachael :D