Hasta luego Panama, Hola Costa Rica!

Yayyyyyyy... We leave in an hour to go to Costa Rica! We will be in Talemanca for a week.. should return either next Saturday or Sunday! Be praying for our team as we "bond" and also that God will reveal himself mightily to us! We will be doing a Niko Adventure Camp- so spending some time in the jungle.. should be fun and adventurous. Thanks for praying. Love you all.

Back to the Basics.

I would say it is time for an update... I have had limited time since my laptop was stolen to come down to the computer room and post a blog! But this past week being laptop less I have spent more time with the Lord. I am still learning, and learning, and learning. This crazy relationship we have with Jesus is so much more than we think it is. It is a lifestyle- commited to His Will and the Truth we find in the Bible.
Today in class we were asked where we are with our relationship with Jesus. This is a difficult question to answer.. you have to be extremely honest with yourself and vulnerable to those around you. What I found was interesting, we are all in similar positions. Every one in our group has been taken out of their churches, their religions, their homes and placed in a place where we are deciding what WE believe in. Not me and my famliy, not me and my church, not me and my friends, but what do I think about my life with Jesus. What do I believe in? The thing that I am finding is I can not go on anything but the Word of the Lord.
I have experienced and learned about many new things this past week. Last week our teaching was about the fall of man. I was brought into this whole new subject of "the spirtual realm". I am still processing all of this information, and seeking out what the Bible has to say.. but the basis of it all is that if it's in the Bible- it's true. So my challenge to myself and to all of you all is to stop looking at your relgion and hiding under all your "good" deeds and ideas- and come back to the basics, to the basis of your whole faith. Do an evaluation on your relationship with the Lord.. ask yourself the hard questions. Be vulnerable to others. Be open to the voice of God. I so often treat my relationship with the Lord as a one way relationship- I do all the talking he does all the listening... that is so not how it is supposed to be. We were created to be in constant converstaion and obedience with the Lord. My goal this week is to really come to the basics of why I believe in the Son of God.. and why I believe that he created me and what my purpose is. This will take me more than 1 week... but as long as it takes I'm open. This one way relationship now has another lane...
Sigh... I feel better after getting that out.. I hope that it challenges you as much as it challenges me. We leave for Costa Rica on Saturday night and will return either the next Saturday or Sunday. We will be doing a Niko Adventure Camp... which we are not allowed to know what we will be doing, nor will I be allowed to share with you all. But I do know that I will not have my own toothpaste, shampoo, or a razor for 5 days. We received a packing list with everything we could bring.. nothing more. I have a feeling it will be an intense but very rewarding time with the Lord and with my team.
You can begin to pray for that... also- this week Carlos from Cali is our teacher and he is teaching on "destiny/calling/whatever God leads him to" so pray for him and for our team. Today was an awesome day. If I get the time I will update again before Niko!
You all are awesome! Love you!

Stolen.

We had a "bad" day on base yesterday.. again. My laptop and blackberry were stolen along with 2 other laptops, another cell phone, an iPod, and one of my juice boxes.. averaging about $3,500.50 worth of goodies. The again part is because the first weekend we were here some belogingins of the guys were stolen from their dorm. So the thief knew we would be at church and took advantage of that and intruded into our dorm room and took our belongings. Normally, I hide my valuables... but I was rushed yesterday along with all the other girls to get to church and ran out of time. The thief got lucky... we took a trip to the Panama police station and filed a report and the police are (hopefully) working on finding the items/thief. Pray for justice in this situation. I am trying very hard to turn the other cheek and forgive the thief.. it is not an easy thing to do. I worked very hard for my Macbook and paid for it myself, so it was a major downer for it to be stolen. Also I had a lot of documents, music and many picture on there that are hard to replace. I know that God will work for the good in this situation but it is hard to see that right now. We are going to start locking the gate part of our door (which we didn't know about before).. and we are locking it even at night while we sleep. Alot of us feel very violated and it freaked us out a bit.. the thief went through our suitcases and threw some things around.. so it was a bit scary. So my blog posts may not be as many- but I am going to try and continue to post.. my laptop being stolen will give me more time to spend with the Lord.. so there is a blessing in it.. sigh.... love you all, it's time for dinner! Chow.

Laughter.

I am so thankful for the gift of laughter. Let me share some funny times with you! 

My friend Katie and I are on "projects" for our work duty, which is also known as- hard labor. The first day we just had to wash the 2 vans and a truck, however both of us laughed the entire time. Then, today we had to rake all of the leaves out of the draining system.. but it wasn't just leaves- rotting mangos were also in there.. and they were all wet so it was heavier than normal... haha.. it's probably one of those "had to be theres" but it was quite a sight watching us. 

Another one, in the girls dorm we all have mosquito nets around our mattresses (we sleep on the bottom of a bunk bed) so once we get in bed we never want to get out.. so every night whoever is the last to get in bed also gets to get everyone else their: flashlights, chocolate, pen, bible, socks, tylenol, or anything else you could think of that you could forget before you get in bed! So night time is always hilarious. 

This one is a cute story- I have a little friend, her name is Eve (Eh-vey), she is around 2 I am pretty sure maybe closer to 3... but I taught her the song and motions to "Noah built a big big boat, doo dah, doo dah.. Noah built a big big boat, Ohh a doo da dayy, it's gonna rain all night, it's gonna rain all day, Noah built a big big boat so we could float away" so everytime I see her running around on base she always throws her hand up ready to do the hammer motion.. then once we sing it once, it usually is followed by "otra vez! otra vez!" which means "again, again!".

I love being cold- we have AC during class time, so I always sit front seat center because that is exactly where the cold air hits! I love it.. 

They say I have an accent.... what's that? I think THEY have the accent!

Many times we laugh at simple things- such as slipping and almost "biting it" because the steps and everything is usually slippery. 

Even though I may be thousands of miles away from every babysitee, guess who has babysat since they have been in Panama! ME! Except I do it for free here :) (I ask for snickers or a Coca Cola!) Haha.. that's for all of my little kids out there I babysit.. I miss you ninos and ninas! 

My past 2 shower times have been absolutely hysterical... which all of them are... because even though I have taken 25+ cold showers, the coldness still surprises me! So I always start out with some nice "woos" and most everyone passing the bathroom house knows I am showering... anyways... today my shower started normal.. until I looked to get my scrubber- and I had company- a frog! So I screamed, loudly, jumped out while some friends came in and saved the day and got the frog out of my shower. It was hilarious. 

I am so greatful for these funny and sweet times.. I will be posting what I am learning this week soon.. I think that it is such a useful and is affecting my life so much that it will do the same for you all. I love each of you! 

I also made it to where anyone can comment on my blogs now.. so comment away! I love hearing feedback and what is going on in your life! 

Love always- B

3rd Sunday

Well, I have made it 3 Sundays! And it has been so much fun since the beginning.. we also learned that we are going to Costa Rica on August 28th to do an adventure camp called Niko. They aren't allowed to tell us much about it- and we won't be able to say much about it so future participants won't find out anything. But, I have a feeling I will be growing quite a bit- and that I will be spending a week in the jungle. I am nervous- but totally excited. God is continuing to show himself to me and I love it. I love my group and Panama. Praise the Lord. :) Until later as they say in Panama, Chow. 

Week 2

PANAMA!

Not such a great picture, but still shows the beauty of Panama.

This is my friend Katie and I on the bus- that was extremely hot our first Sunday here!

I have been here for 2 weeks and that blows my mind.. I am so blessed to be here and to be learning the things I am learning. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to spend 5 months getting to know God... I love it. I never have taken the time to get to know him. He was just a thing on my to-do list. Yes, I had a personal relationship with him... but I didn't know him like I know Chelsea or any other of my friends or family members. And part of knowing God is knowing yourself. Which is exactly what I am beginning to learn... who I am. No one is here to tell me what to believe, I am put into a place where I have to know what I stand for as a Christian and as a follower of the Most High. I started with a clean slate with the people in my DTS group- the only thing they knew about me was that I was called to YWAM Panama.. so I am having to find where I stand on certain subjects. I am also the youngest one, which I enjoy, so I am learning from people with experience- they have been through being 18 and making life decisions.. what a blessing it is to learn from them. I am challenged to live a life of excellence... which is what God has called each of us to. Any sin that is in my life is holding me back from being as close to my Savior as possible. I am still uncovering years of "little" and "big" sin that I always justified. It is most definitely an experience. Thank you for your prayers and for supporting me. I pray that as I am challenged that you to will be challenged. We are ALL called to live lives of example and excellence.  

Another thing that I am learning is faith. We are reading through the New Testament while doing our DTS- and I started Matthew yesterday- I forgot all of the stories of Jesus healing the sick, the lepors, the blind, the demon possessed. And it was their faith that amazed me, I can't say that I have that kind of faith- which I am  ashamed because I should. I want faith like that- that's my prayer as I write this blog. 

I'll end this blog with some song lyrics that have spoken to me:

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

my heart and my soul, Lord I give you control

Consume me from the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise become my embrace

To love You from the inside out

To send me things:

Some of you have asked for my address to send me letters or packages so here they are:

For packages: Juventud Con Una Mision
pty 2912
7979 NW 21st St.
Doral, FL 33122-1616
Brennen Gaddis

Letters:
Juventud Con Una Mision
PTY 2912
PO Box 025207
Miami, FL 33102-5207
Brennen Gaddis

I´m pretty sure I have to pay to receive them, because your postage will only cover for it to get to Doral or Miami... so keep them pretty light, or send some cash ;) haha. And don´t send anything to the one I posted before.. it takes ages to get here.. like a month or more.. They said I might get that when we get back from outreach haha..

And... if you ever wanna webcam me or talk to me my skype is brennengaddis search me and we can talk one night if we are both on at the same time :) Love love love