Posted in General Posts by Jeremy and Sarah Pena on 11/26/2011
Well, it's official. We're in the States! We're here in Pennsylvania with Jeremy's family. We're taking this time to rest, relax, and process. It's been a good week (how can it not be with Thanksgiving and Jeremy's mom's cooking!). We are so thankful for family and friends that love us and support us, even now after we've come off the mission field.
It's strange being here - the States that is. We've done the whole re-entry thing before and I have to say that I thought I would adjust pretty easy. I felt like I already knew what to expect and how I would feel about everything. But I was a bit mistaken. I wasn't as prepared as I thought I'd be. It's been a little overwhelming to be around such wealth after being around children that are just hoping they get 3 meals in a day. It's been a little difficult to wear different clothes every day knowing that there are people that have been wearing the same torn up clothes for a week straight. And the most difficult thing for me right now is knowing that even though Jeremy and I don't have much according to American standards, we are filthy rich according to almost every country we were in. It's a hard place to be in and so my mind is reeling.
But in all of this, it is amazing to see the Lord at work. You see, this is His world, not mine. And so I know that it doesn't matter where I am or what I'm doing or what I have. I am BLESSED just to be called God's daughter. I have because He's blessed me with what I have. I am able to do the things I do because He's made a way for me to. I am in the place I'm in because that's where God wants me to be. So while I've seen and experienced A LOT this year, things that I will not forget, it's time for the next season of what the Lord has for me. It's time to be back home, ready to do whatever the Lord has next for us. I am trusting Him for every step of the way for me just as much as I'm trusting Him to continue to work in the lives of all the people we came into contact with this year. I'm trusting, as it is with all of us, that God will complete what He has started in our friends around the world.
So that's my personal word for this next season of my life: TRUST. I trust the Lord in all things and for all things.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."
Proverbs 3:5-6
As we return home we're thinking about work. If anyone knows of a job for Jeremy, let us know. Also, I will be starting to do hair again on Monday, December 5th. You can contact me by phone, text, email, or facebook for an appointment. Let me know! Thanks again for all the support!
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Posted in General Posts by Jeremy and Sarah Pena on 11/7/2011
Well, the title of this blog says it all. We are nearing the end of this Race. I know that I didn't get a blog out about last month so I'll sum it up for both Jeremy and me.
Last month we were both in Thailand but we were in different places. We prayed about it and felt that Jeremy should go with the guys of our squad to do Man Ministry. So they were in Western Thailand while I was up north in Chiang Mai, Thailand with the other 3 girls on my team. Last month was really good for Jeremy in that the Lord really used in a lot of different ways. They did a lot of physical labor including spreading manure by hand, shepherding goats, and pouring concrete. They also worked with the growth groups in the church that they were working with as well as doing minstry among one another. It was one of his favorite months on the Race.
I was working in a girls home, basically just living life with them. We got up at 5:30 every morning and didn't stop until about 9:00 at night. We did everything from physical labor to walking the girls to and from school to teaching worship songs in English to playing volleyball and helping with homework. It was a very tiring month, but it was one of my favorite months and totally worth it. Sharing Jesus' love always is, isn't it?
So that brings us to this month - Month 11. We're here in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and we're actually just finishing up ministry here. We worked with a program called Children At Risk. These kids are from families that have been recently brought out of the slums and these kids are at risk for anything from prostitution to gangs to drugs/alcohol and pretty much anything else you can think of. We have done kids club, preschool club, youthgroup, washed and styled hair, dramas galore (which we made up!), games, crafts, and songs. We also had the chance to help build a house for a family last week that had been living in nothing more than a shelter of sticks and tarps. It was hard work in the heat, but worth every drop of sweat to see the excitement they had in having a home made of wood. Oh, the things we take for granted.
This has been a great month for us because we got to love on children that are desperate and hungry for it and share with them about the love that God has for them. We're honored to be used by Him in this way, as we can tell from the Bible that children hold a special place in God's heart. These kids then leave that center and share that love with their families who are then interested and show up to see what this is all about. It's so cool to be a part of it!
So we ended ministry a little early this month because there is a huge holiday here called the Water Festival. We then leave on Sunday for Siem Riep, Cambodia to have our final debrief of our trip. Pray that it is a time of rest and a time that we can process what God has done and that He would begin to prepare us for the things are ahead. We will be back in the States on Saturday, November 19th and then we will be heading to Pennsylvania to be with Jeremy's family and our supporters there. And finally....the first week of December we will return to Indiana! We are excited about this, but please continue to pray for us as one season is ending and yet another is beginning. We just keep pressing on toward the goal...
I also wanted to ask all of you to pray for Jeremy and me in the area of finances. Our personal finances are not where we expected them to be at this point, and so we really want to ask you all to pray hard that God provides us with jobs as soon as possible. It's a bit of a stress, but we are trusting God in this. He didn't bring us all this way to fall flat on our faces in our return home. Thank you for partnering with us in this way!
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Posted in General Posts by Jeremy and Sarah Pena on 10/8/2011
So, for those of you that know me, you know that I almost always have something to say. :) But for some reason I've been finding it really difficult to write a blog about our time in Tanzania. It was a really great month. Tanzania is absolutely beautiful...probably the most beautiful country we've been to so far. Looking at the landscape there, it's hard to understand how others don't believe in God. His beautiful creation spoke volumes to me about the love He has for us and really just about His uniqe deity.
Our ministry was a lot like Uganda, where we only did about 2 hours of organized ministry a day. But for Jeremy and me, I think more of our "ministry" was really just doing life with one of our contacts and with the girls that cooked for us all month. God blessed us with opportunities to pour into them and also to be poured into by them. And it was a beautiful picture of how the body of Christ works, without culture or location effecting it. It was a reminder that God is the same in the States as He is in Tanzania and everywhere else.
One example of this is the day that I sat down with Dorcas and Victory, who were the girls that made our amazing food last month. They reminded me a lot of my sisters back home. I felt so comfortable around them and felt like I could just be me. That day, I got to share with them my story about not being able to have a baby. I've shared that story a lot on this race and the Lord has been faithful to use it to speak about His plans and timing for our lives. But I had never had a reaction like I got from Dorcas and Victory that day. As I finished sharing, I looked at them and Victory walked away out of view with tears in her eyes. I then looked at Dorcas and her eyes were also glistening. And I was so shocked. The empathy that these girls were having for me overwhelmed me. Then the tears came to my eyes. I was in awe of the way that the Lord tugs at others hearts on my behalf. These girls were seeing my desire for a child, but more than that, a desire for God's will in my life, and they hurt for me. But they also had hope for me. They also prayed that God would have His way. And I was so blessed that day. I was blessed to have the body of Christ encouraging me and lifting me up in something that has been extremely difficult for me.
Jeremy got to be really good friends with our contact whose name is Yusuph. He's a 23 year-old that has such a strong heart for the Lord. He has a testimony that I'm not going to even try to repeat because it's powerful and I don't want to miss something. But God has huge plans for His life, as He has already made clear, and he and Jeremy really became great friends. They were able to laugh and joke, and also have serious conversations. It was so hard to say good-bye to him, but I trust that we'll see him again someday.
So that was Tanzania. Not quite what Jeremy or I expected it to be, but it was exactly what God wanted it to be. And I'm so blessed that the Lord wanted to use us in that way. It's all for His glory anyway.
We're in Thailand now and I'm working on getting another blog up. As your read this, please pray for Jeremy and me as we are separated this month. He's doing ministry with the men and I'm with the girls on my team. We miss each other, but God is using us both where we are. Please pray for continued strength and endurance. Thanks!
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Posted in General Posts by Jeremy and Sarah Pena on 9/3/2011
Well, this blog, once again, is long overdue. This is going to be a short update, as our internet is sparse (We're in Africa, you know!). So here we go.
We are currently in Mwanza, Tanzania. Yep, that's right, Tanzania. I do apologize for not getting a blog out last month in Uganda. It just didn't happen. But here's a bit of what went on. We did street kid ministry, ministry at an AIDS orphanage, and hospital ministry. We also did door-to-door evangelism. It was a very slow month of ministry, as the church we were working with was trying to move to a different location. That made it a bit difficult for me, as I was quite homesick with all the down time. All I could think about was what my family was doing, what life would be like when we returned, did people still think of us....you get the picture. So, even though we knew that God had used us to impact lives in Uganda, we were both ready to move on.
So this month is a short month...only 3 weeks. But I have an excitement about this month. I don't really know why, but I believe that God is going to continue to show me His heart for His people and that He will continue to change lives here. It sounds like we'll be doing door-to-door evangelism, hospital ministry, and helping with some programs at the church. So we'll see what God has in store.
Please pray for us as we continue on this journey. It's Month 9 you know, and we're (well mostly me...Jeremy can go all day long!) getting a little tired. Please pray that God gives us the strength and energy to keep going. Please also pray for us as we return home in November. Please pray that God would provide jobs for Jeremy and I. We trust Him and know He'll provide.
That's it for now. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. We've felt it and appreciate it more than we could ever tell you. Blessings!
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Posted in General Posts by Jeremy and Sarah Pena on 7/29/2011
Well, we've made it to Month 8 here in Uganda! That's right, Kenya has come to an end, which has proven to be very difficult for both Jeremy and me. It was so hard for both of us to leave, as God showed us His children there and His heart for them.
Jeremy got to go out a couple of times and hang out with the street kids. These kids range in age from 2 to 18 and almost all of these kids are addicted to glue. They always have a bottle on them and they huff it. It starts out for most kids as a choice. It's a way to keep the hunger pains away, as food on the streets is hard to come by. For others, it started when they were little and had no choice, as their moms or other street kids would give them glue to passify them. Jeremy watched as a 2 year old was given glue from one of the older street boys just to get him to stop crying. Jeremy also befriended an 8 year old boy named Owen. He made a deal with him the day he met him - Owen had to give Jeremy his glue bottle and Jeremy would buy him a loaf of bread. Owen agreed and they then bought him a new shirt, shoes, and took him to see a movie at the local movie theater. Jeremy was really impacted by Owen and all of the rest of the street kids that don't have families and have no place to call home. And in order to drown the physical hunger pains as well as the hunger pains of wanting more out of life, they turn to glue. They know that there is more out there, but they have no way of obtaining it.
I was impacted in another way that was so unexpected for me and I feel like I'm forever changed by it. There is a huge problem in Kenya right now with women abandoning their newborn babies. These babies are often a product of rape and incest, and because of this, the women, often young girls, are told they have to either abandon the baby or never return to their family should they choose to keep it. So in the children's home we worked at there were two babies that had been abadoned and put in a bush on the side of the road, in hopes that someone would find them before they died. Because God has a plan for each of them, Joseph and Moses were both found and rescued. Joseph was found shortly after his birth and has been doing well. Moses, however, was found much later after his birth, as there were ants already eating away at his skin. He had to spend some time in the hospital to allow his wounds to heal and was then placed in the children's home. They are both handsome little boys (Joseph is now 4 weeks old and Moses is 5 weeks old). They are getting healthier by the day and I was blessed to just be able to love on them by holding, bathing, and feeding them. Isn't that what all little babies deserve?
That's what I think and because of that, when our contacts received a phone call about another baby that they found in a bush, my heart broke. All I could think about was finding that baby a place to call home. We were able to help out and make a way for our contacts to be able to take the baby. I really wanted to be able to see this baby before we left Kenya, so on our last day we set up a time to meet the little guy. Well, after a day that went nothing as planned, we arrived at the courthouse to meet him. We didn't know we'd be meeting his mother as well. You see, Susan was found shorlty after the baby was, and she was put in prison, awaiting trial. Well, that last day we were in Kenya was the day of Susan's court date. So when we arrived at 6:00 that evening in front of the courthouse, there stood 16 year old Susan holding that sweet, little baby boy. He is the most beautiful little baby, very healthy and strong. He was sleeping in his ragged clothes and blanket and smelled like he hadn't been bathed, but he was stunning and perfect. And yet as much as my heart went out to this baby, my heart went out even more to Susan. She was so young and scared and hopeless. So I just looked her in the eye and told her that God has a plan for her life and that, no matter what had already happened, all God cares about is her future. He just wants her. After all, God is our Redeemer, and can therefore take her messed up life, and make it new and beautiful. We prayed for her and for that beautiful baby boy whose name I'll never forget - Ivan. He's only one baby, but that's just it....he's one baby that will have a life that will be filled with the love of Christ because God's wasn't done with him yet. God's plans for us are good and filled with hope (Jeremiah 29:11). All we have to do is to seek Him with all of our heart and He says we'll find Him (:13). Well, I was seeking God when we decided to come on this trip, and I know that I found Him, when I looked into the face of that young mother and that sweet baby and realized that God has plans for them as well as for me....and that on that day, our plans were intertwined.
All of that to say...we're heartbroken for the people of Kenya and we are hope-filled as we will continue to pray for God to make Himself known there. In the meantime, we're here in Kampala, Uganda. We have no idea what this month holds yet, but we trust that, just like God did in Kenya and really every country we've been in so far, He'll bring glory to His name.
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Posted in General Posts by Jeremy and Sarah Pena on 7/18/2011
I feel like I don't even know where to begin when talking about Kenya. These people have stolen my heart in ways I'm not sure they even realize. And I'm continually amazed at how the Lord is working in people's lives here. It is truly an honor to serve God in this country.
I think that one of the things that I've done here would, to some, seem insignificant and unimportant, maybe even worthless. But to me, and I believe to God, it's truly showing His love. I've fallen in love with a boy named Jacob. He is an orphan that was dropped off at the children's home we're working at. Jacob is quiet and doesn't smile. He doesn't play a whole lot with other kids and tends to do his own thing. But he's stolen my heart in a way that's hard to explain.
Every time we go to the orphanage, I go find Jacob. He never smiles when he sees me, but he always lets me pick him up and snuggle him. He never says a word to me, but I always tell him how much I love him and that God loves him infanately more than that. Two times now he has fallen asleep in my arms, arms that I pray are like the arms of God around him. I pray that he feels safe and comforted, as we find ourselves in God, as He is our refuge and strength. I try to love Jacob the way that God loves him every time I see him. I know it may not seem like much to hold a little boy and kiss his cheeks. It may seem silly to tell that boy about Jesus' love for him when he doesn't even speak English. What can holding him while he sleeps actually do?
But aren't these the things that God does for us? Doesn't God lavish His love and passion on us? Doesn't God make it clear through His Word how He feels about us? Doesn't he hold us and comfort us when we need Him to and even when we don't? So this is why I do it for Jacob. I just want to demonstrate what the Lord has done for me time and again. My prayer is that this leads Jacob to a relationship with the Lord. My prayer is that he'll remember the "mzungu" (white person) that came and snuggled him and told him about Jesus' love. My prayer is that his life will not be defined by his circumstances, but rather that his life will be a testimony of the Father's unending and unchanging love for him.
So while kisses and snuggles seem insignificant to some, I believe it means everything to the one who needs to receive the Father's love. It makes a difference. So who are you demonstrating God's love to today?
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Posted in General Posts by Jeremy and Sarah Pena on 6/26/2011
I'm amazed at how fast this trip has gone by. Can you believe we're headed into Month 7?!? Yep, that's right, we've wrapped up Thailand and are heading out on Wednesday to Kenya! Here's a bit of what the Lord has done this last month and what we have coming up.
This month was an eye-opening one for me. You hear all about prostitution and the sex trade industry on the news and you know that Thailand is known for it. But nothing really prepares you for what it looks like and how it really works. At first I felt a disconnect from the people, especially the women. But the Lord reminded me that they are His children that are created in His image and His likeness. As soon as I had that mentality, I saw the people there in an entirely new light. I was no better, different, more deserving, or more loved than they were. They were people - just like you and me. And the Lord knit each and every one of them together in their mother's wombs just as He did you and me. The only difference I ended up seeing was this:
I know the love and grace that God has freely given me and they don't yet know what that gift is all about.
It's pretty simple really. We are all people that are lost and have sin in our lives, but it's because of the love that God has for each of us, that He sent us His Son so that we could have life with Him. So that was what we went out to the bars to share. We got to see God's children with His eyes instead of our own and we were able to share His love with them. Sometimes it was just with a smile, sometimes through an intense game of Connect 4, and sometimes it was verbally telling them of His love. Either way, I can tell you that His love was spread all throughout the streets of Phuket this month. Our continued prayer is that these women would eventually get out of the bars and have a life with Jesus. We pray the same for the men and women that frequent the bars. We want to see them living their lives for the Lord as well, not just for the next cheap thrill. We trust that the Lord will continue working in the lives of all those we came into contact with.
So now we are off to Africa!!! That's right, next stop is Kenya. We're exctied to see what God has instore for the next 3 months and I know a lot of you are too. However, there's a good chance we won't have internet so just know that I will get blogs out as I can. Please continue to pray for us as we travel and share the love of Christ!
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Posted in General Posts by Jeremy and Sarah Pena on 6/8/2011
Can you believe it?!?
We're in Phuket, Thailand!!!
After many hours of travel, we finally made it here to Thailand. Jeremy and I are both so excited to be here. It's such a drastic change from Central and South America, but we were ready for it. Our ministry this month will be very different from what we've done before. We're working with SHE Ministries, going into the bars in the Red Light district, talking to the men and women there. SHE Ministry's goal is to get the women out of the bars/prostitution and to teach them English or a trade such as making jewelry or giving them hotel training so that they can find another source of income. Through all of that, they are able to share the Gospel and have seen salvation come through it. They're able to disciple the women, helping them to grow in their relationship with the Lord as well as teaching them a skill or trade.
So we'll be coming alongside them and being their hands and feet in the bars. We had our first night of minsitry on Monday night (we're 12 hours ahead of Central Time) and it was definitely intense but really good. We had good conversation with a woman there and are working on building a relationship.
We're also helping in the manual labor department in helping on SHE's new piece of property that they'll expand onto. We're doing anything from painting to weed pulling to breaking up concrete.
WE NEED YOUR PRAYER!!!
This is an intense ministry and takes its toll on us. We need you to pray for us and our teams as we're out in the bars sharing Jesus' love - if you think of us from 9 A.M. to 12 P.M. please pray as that is the time we'll be in the bars since we're 12 hours ahead in time. Also, please pray for our marriage. We need to have a strong marriage to be effective and we don't want anything breaking us up! :) Pray that the women would want to leave the bars (which they are free to do at any time) and that bars would just shut down. We're excited to see what God has here!
P.S. As an update to anyone who read our blog about Raquel....we ended up meeting with her on the very last day we were there. We actually had our bags packed and were ready to leave and she showed up at our house. We were able to give her information about a church that had an organization for teens like her and was willing to take her in. I have not heard yet if in fact she did go, but we were just so excited to see her alive and well and we're trusting God to do the rest in her life! Thank you all for your prayers as they are powerful and effective! Praise be to God!
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Posted in General Posts by Jeremy and Sarah Pena on 5/25/2011
So this is the sidewalk outside of our house where I spent my time with the Lord every morning. It doesn't look like much, but the Lord gave me some really awesome opportunities to share His love with people and also showed me His sense of humor. So here's how it went:
*I spent many times talking with one of our contacts Carlos here. God was really working in his life this month and just gave me opportunities to pour into him.
*Every morning the goat cart would pass by - that's right, I said goat cart! It was pulled by a horse and the owner would stand on the back of the cart. One morning a goat was peeing on the owners boot. It made my day!
*Every morning I spent time talking to Juan Carlos, who was another one of our contacts. He and I became great friends and he was such an encouragement to me throughout the entire month. He really is an amazing man of God.
*A little girl ran by everyday and instead of saying hello she would say "Goodbye!" and just keep running.
*Mother's Day is always hard for me as we have not been able to have kids yet. I was journaling that morning about how much I was frustrated with waht the Lord had planned for me. I was frustrated that we didn't have kids yet and I was feeling like a bit of a failure. And as I was writing, a woman came up to me out of nowhere and started telling me about her daughter who was sick in San Salvador and she wanted me to help her. I was waiting for her to ask me form money or a ride but she never did. So I told her that they only way I could help her that morning was to pray for her. Her face lit up. So I prayed - right there on the sidewalk. She said "Gracias" and left encouraged. As I watched her walk away I realized that if I had kids right now, I wouldn't have been able to pray for that woman who could not be with her own daughter on Mother's Day. The Lord always has a plan for us that is amazing - even if it's not what we think it should be.
*A cow wandered by in the morings, just grazing what was around. I wish my nieces and nephews could have seen that!
*I got to pray for a man that was drunk at 8:00 in the morning. He wanted food so I prayed that as he was hungry, that God would give him all that he needed, both physically and spiritually.
*As I had my Bible open to Psalms I had a woman come up and evangelize to me! It made me laugh!
These are just a few of the things that happened to me on this sidewalk. It's amazing what can happen even when we just step outside the walls of our house. There are so many opportunities around us to share Jesus love...we just have to have eyes to see them and the courage to take them. My prayer for all of you as you have read this is that you would take the opportunities that God is giving you to share His love with His people around you no matter where you are.
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Posted in General Posts by Jeremy and Sarah Pena on 5/20/2011
I can't stand the sight of others crying in distress. It just tugs at my heart and all I want to do is help. That's how I feel about Raquel. She stole my heart the other day and I can't stop thinking about her and how much I want to help her.
Raquel was standing on the road outside of the bar/brothel and she just had tears streaming down her face. So Jeremy and I went over to talk to her. We found out that she was 15 years old and that her parents both died last September and she was now living with her 17 year old boyfriend and his mom. She says that her boyfriend hits her sometimes, which was obvious by the fear in her eyes and the scowl he had on his face while we talked to her. They were fighting about something, and he wanted to send her to San Salvador to live with her step-grandma, who she doesn't like a whole lot. We also learned that she walks the streets during the day trying to sell clothes and shoes to make some money. However, she hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch that day and probably wouldn't eat dinner either because she hadn't made any money. So here she stood in the street not knowing what to do or where to go.
Then the boyfriend's mom wanted to talk to us, I think mostly because she didn't like us talking to Raquel. So we crossed the street to speak with her just outside of the brothel where she worked and while we did that, the boyfriend walked off with Raquel. We asked where they were going and they said she would be right back. So we talked a bit more with the boyfriend's mom, who made it very obvious she didn't like Raquel. Then we saw the boyfriend coming back - without Raquel. I looked at Jeremy and immediately we knew that something was wrong. He said that she wasn't coming back, that he put her on a bus to San Salvador and wouldn't be back until noon the next day. We asked if we could come back a speak to her then. They agreed and we left.
I was devastated. I knew that something wasn't right. They definitely didn't want us to talk to her. So we came back and one of our contacts helped us to look for a home or orphanage for her to stay at. We just wanted to help get her out of that situation. So we went back the next day to see her....and she wasn't there. They said she would now return on Sunday at 3:00 in the afternoon.
My heart hurts as I write this story out. You see, I know that there are girls like this all around the world. I know that there are kids like this that deal with situations that I cannot begin to fathom. She is definitely not the only one going through this. But she was there...right in front of me. I watched her wipe the tears from her cheeks. I saw the hurt and fear in her eyes. I saw her desire for something more. I knew that she needed Jesus and I also saw that she needed a way out. Yet right now, I feel helpless. But I'm praying. I'm praying for another chance to see her. I'm praying that she'll be there on Sunday when we go back. I'm going to keep fighting for her because she's worth it. She's God's precious daughter who is in desperate need of a Savior. So I'll keep praying for Raquel and I hope you will too.
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