And so here I am, my last night (although it's early morning) in Pennsylvania for 6 months! It's a scary thought, yes, but very exciting too. I find the more I talk about going to Honduras and the new experiences I'll be having, the more excited I'm becoming.
A few things before I head off into the great unknown:
*If you wish to be on my prayer list, please let me know! Email or Facebook will do.
*I fly out of JFK on Wednesday at 7:10am, so be praying that all goes smoothly! Especially once we hit Honduras and have to go through immigration and customs.
* I WILL be able to receive padded envelopes and snail-mail, just no boxes and what-not, because I'll have to pay taxes on those. You can send those things to:
Evi Long
c/o Barry & Kimberly Horst
Apartado 15005, CP 11105,
Tegucigalpa, Honduras,
Central America
So, goodnight and thanks for the fish! (and prayers!)
Love you all, and Hopefully you will get an update at the end of the week--yes, once I've actually arrived!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
And the procrastinator strikes again!
Wow, so I have not written in forever. Fail, eh? It’s okay, I’ll be writing from my journal…except, unfortunately, I send my older journal home. Well, that’s okay.
Alright, so, after PA it took us like a week to get back into the swing of things. So the week we were back was strange, and then Bonnie left that Thursday to go back to PA to do taxes and stuff for the ministry. But, was was awesome about that weekend was that Steve took us downtown (we really don’t do a lot of site-seeing. We chill in the real New york. :D) to Dallas BBQ, which is a delicious place to eat. This was just basically an AWESOME evening. It was October 30th, the day before Halloween…which equals costume parties, all over. So hilarious. On the way there I sat next to a grown man in a head to toe Lion costume, and then by a little Hannah Montana… She was so cute. We discovered a Timmy’s (Tim Horton’s) right beside Dallas BBQ. Needless to say, Melanie was quite ecstatic. For those of you who aren’t aware, Tim Horton’s is the Canadian Starbucks, and Canadians are insanely proud of it, and swear it’s better. It’s named after a Hockey player (of course). Funny fact: According to legend, the first Timmy’s was actually in Buffalo, NY. It was pretty delicious, I must say. My coffee was delectable, along with the donut. And I’m able to say that my first trip to Timmy’s was with a true blue Canadian I think that’s pretty awesome.
Let’s see, we also saw an awesome little kid dancing to a live band playing some good ol’ MJ! He was adorable, and the bass player was super cool. But what bass player isn’t? Yes, that is a stereotype. It’s okay. Of course that got me in the mood for the Prince of Pop, so I listened to him for the rest of the evening.
On our way back to the metro station (yah, that’s a band too), we came across some skaters, and a 10-stair set. Having friends who skate, I was interested to see if they would do it. So we encouraged them to. It took them a while, but one finally did, crossing himself beforehand, and landed it! They wanted a kiss for their efforts (they were probably 7th-9th graders). We gave them a dollar instead and told them they would get farther with it On the way home, I sat across from Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley. Those are characters from Harry Potter, for those non-Harry Potter fanatics. Luna’s costume was especially great, complete with radish earrings and cork earrings! I complimented them…they were awesome. Final awesome thing of the night was that while we were waiting for the bus, Mel and I were listening to Michael J on my ipod, and I believe it was Beat It, and I was singing along, and a guy was passing by and he stopped and looked over my shoulder at my ipod, and I said “It’s Michael Jackson!” And he said “Alright!” and gave us this huge grin. It made me happy I love little instances of awesome bonding with strangers, even over Michael Jackson. So that was that weekend.
November 1st Dick Marks and Pastor Ben came from Fairview Ave. to do the mentoring for that Monday and Tuesday. Pastor Ben taught on our value to God, and then Dick did sessions on personalities. That was extremely helpful. I think especially for our team dynamics. I’m the only Lion in our group, and I am a Lion/Otter. God has just been revealing to me areas in my personality that I need to be careful of, but also revealing good things about it as well. The good things about it is the hardest. When reading, and just what I know is generally perceived of my personality, I often feel like I have the most obnoxious, or “disliked” personality.
And now I will vent for a minute. I feel better when I express my thoughts in writing. Lately I’ve been so frustrated with how women are viewed in the world, STILL, even in America, our “free” country. I’ve always said, and now I’m sure, that if I wasn’t a Christian, I would be a ridiculously hardcore feminist. I’m certainly a huge advocate for women’s rights. It’s frustrating to me that with my personality I’m seen as bossy, bold (in a bad way), over-the-top, just-says-things-and-doesn’t-know-what-she’s-talking-about, loud, too opinionated, blah blah and so on, but if I were a guy, I would more likely be seen as someone who is a very strong leader, who cuts to the point (in a good way), who is friendly and jolly. I’m frustrated that women are seen as weak, and I’m going to have to say ESPECIALLY in the Christian circle. How wrong is that? I hate that when you go places, girls shouldn’t go alone, because horrible people prey on women. Why? Because they are seen as lesser. And everything is “for our protection,” and I understand that, but that still doesn’t make it right! I haven’t come to a conclusion on all my thoughts, but I’m tired of just saying “I wish I was a guy!” because I like the fact that I’m a strong, smart, articulate woman. I hate feeling inferior, or being treated like I’m stupid because I don’t know the technical this and I don’t know how to fix this or that in a car, because I bet you that in an interview, I’d make a better impression because of my communication skills. I know this probably sounds haughty, but really, I need to get this out in writing, because I think verbally, especially through the written word. I can say exactly what I mean and not worry about letting the wrong things slip from my tongue.
Moving on. The weekend after Pastor Ben and Dick came, I kind of took a breather that Saturday. I just needed some quiet time. So while the rest of the team went down-town, I stayed home and had an amazing Jesus time, and caught up on reading. Then Bonnie and I went to Lunch at Applebees, and had a good long talk. It was so good for me. I was in dire need of one, cause I’m so used to being able to just talk to my mama. And we went shopping I got some things for Honduras, which is awesome.
We went to PA this past weekend! Just the day before we left we got the news of Lynn Myers death. What a blow. All these deaths are driving me crazy. I really don’t understand, although I don’t expect to. I really don’t know what to think. It seems that Brethren in Christ missionaries especially have been under attack this year. Mike Holland I know spoke at Fairview about praying for our missionaries, and how important it is. I think everything is more vivid to me right now because I’m technically in the position of “missionary” right now. Mike challenged “Would you want to be on the mission field with the kind of prayer support you are giving?” That even hit me hard. It challenged me to be praying even more. My sister asked me this question right after Lynn’s passing: Why isn’t God protecting his people?” This is a loaded question, and had me thinking, and I thought “Maybe we aren’t asking…” Not to say that God only works when we ask, but there IS a spiritual battle, and we are horrible soldiers. I think God is calling his people to action. There is no longer room for luke-warm Christians. To quote Dumbledore, “The time has come to choose between what is right, and what is easy.” So, my response has been prayer, and some verses that have been a constant comfort over this past year. One is a prayer:
Psalm 10:12
Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, Oh God. Do not forget the helpless.
And the second is a comforting thought of God’s love for his children:
Psalm 116:15
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
So, we went to PA! And to Ignite! What an awesome time! RootSide Up played, and therefore I got to see Siah, Seth, Micah, Judah,and David. That was wonderful. And Alicia and Matt came, and Hopey, and I got to see Mom and Dad and Mercy for a little bit when they dropped Hope off. Marleen and David Geiger were there with Ephraim. He is so adorable We had some baby worship time with him. The Danneckers were the main speakers. They are missionaries in Jerusalem, working with SACH(Save A Child’s Heart) with their organization 1heart. SACH is a top humanitarian organization in Israel, and partnered with 1heart, gives free heart surgery to children with congenital heart disease. It’s really an amazing ministry. They come into contact with Palestinian refugees, mostly all Muslim. It’s such a great opportunity. They are due to go back in probably about a week, but I think they still need funds, so please, go support them! You can do paypal on the BICWM website, click on Give, and then Missionary Support, and choose Hank & Michelle Dannecker. Really awesome people doing the Lord’s work. So, Hank prayed for my knee, after we spoke and he spoke, and then Alicia did too. It felt like a hot pocket when Alicia was praying for it. It was pretty amazing. And my knee has been feeling really great, and I haven’t been wearing my brace (on doctors orders!). So that is a praise!
Saturday Greg from Priority 1 talked to us about Cross-cultural sensitivity, and then in the evening we went to Emily’s house! It was so fun! Josiah and Hope came, along with Steven, and Steven’s friend Ben Paulding! We ate delicious food, and played an intense game of Dutch Blitz! 2 decks, baby! It was so fun. Great to spend quality time with my sibs
On Sunday we went and spoke at West Side BIC in Chambersburg. It was much smaller than Manor, that is for sure! But really good. The people were lovely, and we went and ate lunch with the pastor, Jim Sollenburger, and his family. It was a very enjoyable afternoon. In the evening we went and hung out at Five Forks BIC with the youth kind of. Michelle came, so I got to hang out with her! And then there was a Southern Gospel Choir (I know, awesome, right? :P), but my ipod had broken like 4 days earlier, so I had called my good from John Tabor about fixing it when I came home that weekend, so he met me at Five Forks! So, Emily and I stayed downstairs to wait for John while the rest went to enjoy the concert. He fixed it, and showed me how to fix it if it ever happened again. What an awesome friend He is super cool and smart, and this is a shout out to him! Then we jut sat there and enjoyed music. It was great because I hadn’t seen him in a while.
Monday and Tuesday we went to Chambersburg BIC to have leadership sessions with Pastor Larry again! It was nice to see him again. We weren’t able to eat at his house, so he took us out to lunch at Red Robin! It was nice to be in Chambersburg…it’s like my second town. Monday evening I had my chiropractic appointment, so I got to see Mom and Mercy, and then Daddy met us there! It went really well, he gave me some exercises I can do, and we found out some of my muscles in my knee were atrophied. That is not good, and is probably due to me wearing my brace so often! So he said ditch the brace! Unless my knee is really hurting, that is. And my knee has been feeling a lot better! I think much of that is due to prayer, so don’t stop!
It was a wonderful weekend/part of week. Right now Mel is rubbing my shoulders. I love her so much. I’ll probably do another update about this last week on like Sunday. I go home on Monday! I am so excited! And I get to see Harry Potter!!! Yeah!
I love you all, and sorry for being such a procrastinator, but I'm preparing you for Honduras when I won't be able to be on much ;P
Alright, so, after PA it took us like a week to get back into the swing of things. So the week we were back was strange, and then Bonnie left that Thursday to go back to PA to do taxes and stuff for the ministry. But, was was awesome about that weekend was that Steve took us downtown (we really don’t do a lot of site-seeing. We chill in the real New york. :D) to Dallas BBQ, which is a delicious place to eat. This was just basically an AWESOME evening. It was October 30th, the day before Halloween…which equals costume parties, all over. So hilarious. On the way there I sat next to a grown man in a head to toe Lion costume, and then by a little Hannah Montana… She was so cute. We discovered a Timmy’s (Tim Horton’s) right beside Dallas BBQ. Needless to say, Melanie was quite ecstatic. For those of you who aren’t aware, Tim Horton’s is the Canadian Starbucks, and Canadians are insanely proud of it, and swear it’s better. It’s named after a Hockey player (of course). Funny fact: According to legend, the first Timmy’s was actually in Buffalo, NY. It was pretty delicious, I must say. My coffee was delectable, along with the donut. And I’m able to say that my first trip to Timmy’s was with a true blue Canadian I think that’s pretty awesome.
Let’s see, we also saw an awesome little kid dancing to a live band playing some good ol’ MJ! He was adorable, and the bass player was super cool. But what bass player isn’t? Yes, that is a stereotype. It’s okay. Of course that got me in the mood for the Prince of Pop, so I listened to him for the rest of the evening.
On our way back to the metro station (yah, that’s a band too), we came across some skaters, and a 10-stair set. Having friends who skate, I was interested to see if they would do it. So we encouraged them to. It took them a while, but one finally did, crossing himself beforehand, and landed it! They wanted a kiss for their efforts (they were probably 7th-9th graders). We gave them a dollar instead and told them they would get farther with it On the way home, I sat across from Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley. Those are characters from Harry Potter, for those non-Harry Potter fanatics. Luna’s costume was especially great, complete with radish earrings and cork earrings! I complimented them…they were awesome. Final awesome thing of the night was that while we were waiting for the bus, Mel and I were listening to Michael J on my ipod, and I believe it was Beat It, and I was singing along, and a guy was passing by and he stopped and looked over my shoulder at my ipod, and I said “It’s Michael Jackson!” And he said “Alright!” and gave us this huge grin. It made me happy I love little instances of awesome bonding with strangers, even over Michael Jackson. So that was that weekend.
November 1st Dick Marks and Pastor Ben came from Fairview Ave. to do the mentoring for that Monday and Tuesday. Pastor Ben taught on our value to God, and then Dick did sessions on personalities. That was extremely helpful. I think especially for our team dynamics. I’m the only Lion in our group, and I am a Lion/Otter. God has just been revealing to me areas in my personality that I need to be careful of, but also revealing good things about it as well. The good things about it is the hardest. When reading, and just what I know is generally perceived of my personality, I often feel like I have the most obnoxious, or “disliked” personality.
And now I will vent for a minute. I feel better when I express my thoughts in writing. Lately I’ve been so frustrated with how women are viewed in the world, STILL, even in America, our “free” country. I’ve always said, and now I’m sure, that if I wasn’t a Christian, I would be a ridiculously hardcore feminist. I’m certainly a huge advocate for women’s rights. It’s frustrating to me that with my personality I’m seen as bossy, bold (in a bad way), over-the-top, just-says-things-and-doesn’t-know-what-she’s-talking-about, loud, too opinionated, blah blah and so on, but if I were a guy, I would more likely be seen as someone who is a very strong leader, who cuts to the point (in a good way), who is friendly and jolly. I’m frustrated that women are seen as weak, and I’m going to have to say ESPECIALLY in the Christian circle. How wrong is that? I hate that when you go places, girls shouldn’t go alone, because horrible people prey on women. Why? Because they are seen as lesser. And everything is “for our protection,” and I understand that, but that still doesn’t make it right! I haven’t come to a conclusion on all my thoughts, but I’m tired of just saying “I wish I was a guy!” because I like the fact that I’m a strong, smart, articulate woman. I hate feeling inferior, or being treated like I’m stupid because I don’t know the technical this and I don’t know how to fix this or that in a car, because I bet you that in an interview, I’d make a better impression because of my communication skills. I know this probably sounds haughty, but really, I need to get this out in writing, because I think verbally, especially through the written word. I can say exactly what I mean and not worry about letting the wrong things slip from my tongue.
Moving on. The weekend after Pastor Ben and Dick came, I kind of took a breather that Saturday. I just needed some quiet time. So while the rest of the team went down-town, I stayed home and had an amazing Jesus time, and caught up on reading. Then Bonnie and I went to Lunch at Applebees, and had a good long talk. It was so good for me. I was in dire need of one, cause I’m so used to being able to just talk to my mama. And we went shopping I got some things for Honduras, which is awesome.
We went to PA this past weekend! Just the day before we left we got the news of Lynn Myers death. What a blow. All these deaths are driving me crazy. I really don’t understand, although I don’t expect to. I really don’t know what to think. It seems that Brethren in Christ missionaries especially have been under attack this year. Mike Holland I know spoke at Fairview about praying for our missionaries, and how important it is. I think everything is more vivid to me right now because I’m technically in the position of “missionary” right now. Mike challenged “Would you want to be on the mission field with the kind of prayer support you are giving?” That even hit me hard. It challenged me to be praying even more. My sister asked me this question right after Lynn’s passing: Why isn’t God protecting his people?” This is a loaded question, and had me thinking, and I thought “Maybe we aren’t asking…” Not to say that God only works when we ask, but there IS a spiritual battle, and we are horrible soldiers. I think God is calling his people to action. There is no longer room for luke-warm Christians. To quote Dumbledore, “The time has come to choose between what is right, and what is easy.” So, my response has been prayer, and some verses that have been a constant comfort over this past year. One is a prayer:
Psalm 10:12
Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, Oh God. Do not forget the helpless.
And the second is a comforting thought of God’s love for his children:
Psalm 116:15
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
So, we went to PA! And to Ignite! What an awesome time! RootSide Up played, and therefore I got to see Siah, Seth, Micah, Judah,and David. That was wonderful. And Alicia and Matt came, and Hopey, and I got to see Mom and Dad and Mercy for a little bit when they dropped Hope off. Marleen and David Geiger were there with Ephraim. He is so adorable We had some baby worship time with him. The Danneckers were the main speakers. They are missionaries in Jerusalem, working with SACH(Save A Child’s Heart) with their organization 1heart. SACH is a top humanitarian organization in Israel, and partnered with 1heart, gives free heart surgery to children with congenital heart disease. It’s really an amazing ministry. They come into contact with Palestinian refugees, mostly all Muslim. It’s such a great opportunity. They are due to go back in probably about a week, but I think they still need funds, so please, go support them! You can do paypal on the BICWM website, click on Give, and then Missionary Support, and choose Hank & Michelle Dannecker. Really awesome people doing the Lord’s work. So, Hank prayed for my knee, after we spoke and he spoke, and then Alicia did too. It felt like a hot pocket when Alicia was praying for it. It was pretty amazing. And my knee has been feeling really great, and I haven’t been wearing my brace (on doctors orders!). So that is a praise!
Saturday Greg from Priority 1 talked to us about Cross-cultural sensitivity, and then in the evening we went to Emily’s house! It was so fun! Josiah and Hope came, along with Steven, and Steven’s friend Ben Paulding! We ate delicious food, and played an intense game of Dutch Blitz! 2 decks, baby! It was so fun. Great to spend quality time with my sibs
On Sunday we went and spoke at West Side BIC in Chambersburg. It was much smaller than Manor, that is for sure! But really good. The people were lovely, and we went and ate lunch with the pastor, Jim Sollenburger, and his family. It was a very enjoyable afternoon. In the evening we went and hung out at Five Forks BIC with the youth kind of. Michelle came, so I got to hang out with her! And then there was a Southern Gospel Choir (I know, awesome, right? :P), but my ipod had broken like 4 days earlier, so I had called my good from John Tabor about fixing it when I came home that weekend, so he met me at Five Forks! So, Emily and I stayed downstairs to wait for John while the rest went to enjoy the concert. He fixed it, and showed me how to fix it if it ever happened again. What an awesome friend He is super cool and smart, and this is a shout out to him! Then we jut sat there and enjoyed music. It was great because I hadn’t seen him in a while.
Monday and Tuesday we went to Chambersburg BIC to have leadership sessions with Pastor Larry again! It was nice to see him again. We weren’t able to eat at his house, so he took us out to lunch at Red Robin! It was nice to be in Chambersburg…it’s like my second town. Monday evening I had my chiropractic appointment, so I got to see Mom and Mercy, and then Daddy met us there! It went really well, he gave me some exercises I can do, and we found out some of my muscles in my knee were atrophied. That is not good, and is probably due to me wearing my brace so often! So he said ditch the brace! Unless my knee is really hurting, that is. And my knee has been feeling a lot better! I think much of that is due to prayer, so don’t stop!
It was a wonderful weekend/part of week. Right now Mel is rubbing my shoulders. I love her so much. I’ll probably do another update about this last week on like Sunday. I go home on Monday! I am so excited! And I get to see Harry Potter!!! Yeah!
I love you all, and sorry for being such a procrastinator, but I'm preparing you for Honduras when I won't be able to be on much ;P
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