Train Them Up Right

So as I told everyone in my last blog, I'm working at a missions youth camp this summer. My job started back in January with calling volunteer organizations, rec centers, nursing homes, and everything in between to set up ministry sites for our track leaders. This was way more challenging than I thought it would be. For starters, I was only in the country 7 weeks the whole spring and the amount of unanswered phone calls I made began to stack up quickly. I started getting worried I would not be able to find enough sites for 22 people for the whole summer. But God is good and provides exactly what we need and in the time we need it.

So I was able to fill all of our sites very easily but close to the last minute as possible. Of courses challenges and roadblocks came but I knew God would place track leaders in the exact site they need to be at despite my incompetency.

Our whole staff arrived last Thursday, excited and ready to get started. We have an awesome and dynamic group of people who cannot wait to serve the Nashville community as well as the adult and campers they will encounter each week. I know God is going to do some great things here.

I survived my biggest hurdles this past week by some how filling 11 hours of evangelism and ministry training. That included first aid and going through all the ministry sites with the track leaders. They were real troupers and did an amazing job of listening to me for 4 hours a day.

Wednesday was our site luncheon. This has been my baby for a couple of months now. As I sent out invitations, arranged seating charts, bought decorations, and made sure as many of our site contacts were there as possible. There was a great turnout despite the bad weather. I praise the Lord for finally allowing me to see all those pieces come together as I passed off the ministry sites to the track leaders. In the afternoon all the track leaders were able to visit their sites and see where they would be working this summer.

Proverbs 22:6- Train up a child in the way he should go: even when he is old he will depart from it. 

Our entire staff has a huge responsibility this summer. We are training youth to go and make disciples by sharing the good news and hope of Jesus Christ. This is no small challenge nor should it ever be taken lightly. My job has been to train and equip our staff with the tools they need to pass on this knowledge of evangelism and ministry. I also have encouraged and reminded them that the campers they encounter this summer will be our future pastors, music ministers, mothers, fathers, and missionaries. We must start now equipping them for a world of sin and suffering. 

 

Not only will we be training them through evangelism but they will also get hands on experiences through tons of different opportunities ranging from painting, construction, and yard work and recreation centers to nursing homes and soup kitchens. Each and every person we will meet and build relationships with this summer are in need physically and emotionally, but even more importantly they have a spiritual need for hope, grace, and salvation through Jesus Christ. We live in a broken world and with that comes broken people. People (campers and our sites alike) who need healing and love to transform their lives unlike anyone else is able to do. That can only come through trusting in Jesus Christ as our redeemer and healer. Because in the long run, while helping meet physical needs like hunger, homelessness, abuse, or whatever the circumstances we need to make sure we understand that unless we are spreading the Gospel, planting seeds to hope, and taking the good news to others with a sense of urgency we are only making them more comfortable on their way to hell. Yes, you read that right, hell. I know that for some this may seem harsh but we serve a loving God who wants a relationship with us more than anything in the world. So share your story of how He has changed your life and the impact it has made in your life today. Be bold. Stand strong...and for heaven's sake.... Go!

 

A few of the verses we are using this summer to motivate students to serve, go, and tell are:

Romans 8:19-23

John 8:12

James 1: 22-25

Acts 1:8

Isaiah 6:8

Mark 16:15

1 Corinthians 12:4-6

John 20:21

Matthew 25: 35-40

So all of that was pretty serious and should be taken that way...doesn't mean I don't work for a summer camp, which means we have lots of time to goof off and have fun. Here are a few pics of what we've been up to this training week. I can't believe it's our last day of training! Pray for us as campers show up on Monday afternoon. We'll need all the prayer we can get because no matter how prepared we think we are... there will definitely be bumps and challenges throughout each week. I'll try to post a blog each week as we experience community and service together during our 7 week adventure!

The One You've Been Waiting For...

Well I started to title this blog thinking, "I'm sure most people have been waiting to hear about Haiti and all its happenings," which was a month and a half ago...sorry I've been a very busy girl. So that's why I titled this...The One You've Been Waiting For...

But then I started to think about it. As anyone reading this will know, I got engaged in Haiti. So this whole waiting for title has much more implication than I originally realized.

Yes, you may have been waiting to hear about this engagement story and the missions opportunities that happened but I realized how much waiting I have actually done in my life.

So I found the one I've been waiting for...Yep that handsome man below...that's him, Justin Stimpson. An amazing man of God, my best friend, and my hero (yep the whole package!)

I've been realizing lately how much patience you have to have in life. Everyday life...not just the big wow moments that are fully engrained in your memory, but those trying times when you wait on the Lord or wait to your clothes that never seem to dry. I have begun to understand how much child like faith and trust I need to have in my Savior. The Spirit has truly been revealing to me things I need to work on in trusting in these everyday situations. I've also learned more strongly than ever that God's will is for all of us to make disciple and with that comes this feeling that God must have only one path for us. False. I know God's will is for you to bring Him glory and share His good news wherever you go and whatever you do.

Hebrews 10 Check it out!

So back to my story about Haiti. Haiti stole a piece of my heart almost two years ago. I saw the devastation of the people and the hopelessness in their eyes. Yes, it was sad to see the filth and garbage many of them lived in but that wasn't it. It was dark...spiritually dark. A kind of darkness that needs the light of a Savior, that can replace of their hopelessness and dispare with a hope of eternal life and the chance to bring glory to the One who sacrificed everything for us.

The Proposal

Pretty much the first time I met Justin, I mentioned Haiti and my heart for that country. So when an opportunity popped up for him and I to go on a trip together...we took it. So April 12, we were greeted by my friend, Hannah, a missionary to Haiti. I had told her a wanted to visit a waterfall she had mentioned, but forgetting to tell her I wanted to surprise Justin.

Yes...I was in my swimsuit.

The next day, we headed to Bassin Bleu. It was beautiful.  Perfectly clear blue water, tropical trees surrounded a large rock that completely engulfed you in paradise. Magic I tell you! The whole time I thought Justin had no clue about where we were headed. He even mentioned how awesome it was and I thought to myself,"Oh good one, Celeste. You surprised him." Ha.

Little did I know, Justin and Hannah had been conspiring on Facebook. Justin was looking for a place to propose and Hannah told him about Bassin Bleu (remember I had forgotten to tell her I was trying to surprise him). So there I was lying on a giant rock when Justin asked if we could take a picture. "But we already took a picture," I said. But I went over there anyway. Smile. Snap. Then it hit me, Hannah, Amanda, and Molly all had cameras. Justin turns around fiddles around with his shirt pocket for a brief moment then falls to a knee and says, "Celeste Grisham, will you spend the rest of your life serving the Lord with me?" Pause. "YES!" 

And that's it folks, I was engaged...in what felt like 2.5 seconds.

For the next four or five hours, I would randomly say, "What?!" really loud in shock and unbelief at the day's prior events. He got me...he really got me. For a while I kept thinking about where he would propose but never Haiti because I didn't think he knew about going to Bassin Bleu.

So there's that story and the one I'd been waiting for! :)

The Trip

So there I was day two of our trip to Haiti engaged! What?! Obviously I was still in shock.

We were able to attend church and spend some time with the Hope for Life Children's Home. These kids are precious. We brought them all kinds of goodies: books, soccer balls, craft supplies, clothes, and even a few barbies. They are so sweet. Pray for them that they will be raised up to make disciples among their people. Later in the evening, we went to missionary Bible Study. Justin got to sing and play the guitar for our worship. Seriously, he's really talented...plus playing the guitar makes him that much cooler. :)

Day 3: It was our last day with Hannah, we packed up our bags and headed to the Samaritan's Purse (SP) base just down the road. Life was much different there. You felt like you were living in a small piece of American paradise...very strange from what we had just experienced. We arrived early and the rest of our team arrived that evening.

Day 4: First day on the job site. I love construction. I'm not very good at it but for some reason I love the idea of helping build something and seeing your progress. The first week at the site, this was not the case....we ended up at a dead end trying to paint the roof of the orphanage. So after realizing this was going to be a challenge we broke early from our work to wait for lunch to arrive. Being the "go-getter" Justin is, he refused to sit still and disappeared somewhere in the huge construction site. I was talking with one of the missionary's wives when I hear in the background, "Someone got shot." I turned around and said, " Shot? Who got shot?" The missionary's wife replied, "Your fiance!"

Of course I stand up to find Justin walking up with his work gloves still on and a 16 penny nail sticking out of his left hand. Mr. EMT does nothing he would have someone else do if they were in this situation and starts to cut off his own glove. Then he turned ghostly white and finally realized he should probably go sit down (don't forget its almost 100 degrees outside too!) When he did sit down, he passed out briefly and I was immediately handed a frozen coke to place on the back of his neck. The next 20 or 30 minutes were a blur. We found ourselves in a Haitian hospital. Justin filled out some paper work and then after a little waiting he had x rays done on his hand, which showed the nail had gone into the bone. So he had to have the nail surgically removed. His hand is practically back to normal now.

Day 5- 15:
Poor thing was in pain for several days and had a hard time working on the job site. Every morning we would worship and have devotion with the SP constructions workers. It was really get to see so many men of God praising Him despite their circumstances. Every afternoon we got to play with those sweet and crazy Greta Academy kiddos. They have so much energy and love attention all 75 of them!

Later on the next week, we were able to go do Operation Christmas Child!!! You guys don't even know how excited I was to do this...or if you know me, maybe you do!

We went out into a remote unreached village about an hour from Jax's Beach. At the time most of the volunteers thought we were going to a reached area that had a church to minister to the local children. Honestly, I was very wrapped up in the opportunity to share the love of Christ and those boxes packed by churches all over the United States and Canada. After the chaos of handing out over 200 shoe boxes, Justin pointed out a few things that really opened my eyes to what the community was... voodoo. Looking around more intently this time I started to realize that we were in voodoo village and that there was no church and I started to think back at the faces of some of those children, they had a dark and hopeless look in their eyes.

That evening Justin and I were able to talk with the Director of Evangelism for SP in Haiti, Pastor Pierre. He is an amazing man of God, originally from Haiti. Pierre really explained to us in greater detail the needs of Haiti and even gave us a copy of his book, "The Hidden Ruler of Haiti." Which dealt a lot with issues like voodoo, lack of family values, etc. Pierre also touched on how the OCC program worked to disciple children in order to reach parents and family in the unreached areas of the world. After this conversation was over Justin and I both knew that was one of the reasons God brought us on this trip... To meet Pierre and start to build relationships with people working missions.

The next day we were able to work with another OCC project closer to Jax's Beach. This one was much different had in a more reached area. The kids faces really lit up when they opened their boxes. A tiny dream of mine came true that week. OCC is something I've wanted to be able to do for a long time and I finally got the privilege to help with this wonderful program.

Our last days in Haiti were bitter sweet as we got ready to depart. We were able to see Hannah a couple more times when she came to visit the SP base. She even brought us a really sweet gift, a Haitian painting of one of our engagement photos.

So what's in my future????....well obviously I'm getting married and soon, September 1st in Gettysburg, PA!

But in other news, I will continue to look to the Lord for guidance in the next steps in my life and go as He leads whether local or international missions (even though I know both will be in my future).

The end has come to this season of foreign missions! Thank you everyone for your prayers and financial support. God has truly blessed me! This summer I will be serving on staff at Belmont University in Nashville, TN as the Site Director for M-Fuge Camps. Pray for me as I serve our staff and the Nashville community.

You can even write me at:

Celeste Grisham
MFuge Summer Camp
1900 Belmont Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37212

Joburg!

Well folks, I’m back from another mission trip and on my way to the next. I can’t really explain the feeling of being able to represent Christ overseas. If you haven’t tried it….I’d recommend it! Just GO! Seriously, if God wants you to go, believe me He WILL provide! God has blessed me beyond measure. I am so grateful to have some many supportive people in my life that care and pray for me daily. God bless you all!

But I’m sure you’re really just here to read about lions and tigers and…wait no bears, sorry.

Being able to go on a FUGE World Changers mission trip was beyond a blessing. I was able to serve alongside some very amazing people Fuge staff (the camp I work at) and missionaries, who have committed years to a foreign country and people. It’s truly inspiring!

So I’ll try to give you a good overview of what my days looked like in Johannesburg, South Africa. Our team was broken down into two groups: Soweto and Inner City. I served on the Inner City team and wish I could be two places at once so I could explain both sides of the trip but technology has just not caught up to my far-fetched futuristic travel ideas! Hmmmp.

For starters, I was in the presence of true Fuge celebrity (not sure if that’s a word?)!! Don Mattingly, the man behind Fuge, was our team leader. He was such an inspiration to work with. A true Fuge hero and a great Godly man. Such a pleasure to work with him.  Properly dubbed Baba Fuge!

Sunday we attended church at Bellevue Baptist in the Inner City. Somehow, I ended up on stage…singing. What?! Yep I’m still really confused by this but there I was singing Hosanna in front of 100 people…thankfully there were other people singing alongside because let’s just be honest…no one wants to hear that. Haha. The people in that church we such a blessing and it was wonderful being able to work with them all week.

 In the afternoon, we were able to go to the Apartheid Museum. That was nuts! I don’t really know how to explain it but I’m pretty sure it was a more intense version of a U.S. Civil Rights Museum. It was crazy to think that less than 20 years ago many of the people in South Africa were living in great oppression simply based on race. We are a sad excuse for humanity that for sure! But PTL…we have Jesus to take care of all the shame and sinfulness that fills humanity!

Well the rest of the week look kind of similar.

We spent our mornings working with Bellevue Baptist doing street ministry and working in the local community. It was interesting to see how many crazy cults and outrageous religious beliefs were in just a few city blocks. You name it…they were there. There were kids everywhere and there is a great need for children’s ministry there. Seeing the poverty and hopelessness of these Inner City people was very eye opening. There were refugees from all over Africa living in this area and many language barriers to overcome.  Unemployment is high and many men just hang out on the street waiting for work to come find them…I guess.

In the afternoon we worked at a local school doing sports camps, basketball and baseball. The basketball kids were good but it was great conversation learning their perspective of the U.S.  Baseball was great and one day the kids had me running ragged from playing centerfield. They were so fun to work with.

 One afternoon we got to stop by the Door of Hope. It's an abandoned babies home. There is a door in the side of the church wall where mothers can safely abandon their babies. I know it's sad but it is the world we live in. They were so precious!

In the evenings, our groups would gather for worship and devotion. A couple of night we got to overlook the city lights and worship and pray right there on the side of a hill in JoBurg! Talk about powerful.

One day we got to do fun stuff. We ate at a restaurant called Carnivore. It’s exactly what you think it is. Huge hunks of meat on a skewer (much like the Brazilian steak houses) but this time you aren’t just eating steak or chicken. You get options like zebra, impala, and antelope. They were all pretty good but I think I got my fill pretty quick.  We also got to go to a lion and rhino reserve. That’s were I got to pet a cheetah, baby tiger, and baby lion. Little Simba was so cute. It was very surreal to be able to experience that and quite thrilling. The park had all kinds of animals from tigers, lions, zebra, antelope, and rhino.  At one point I was about 12 inches from a giant male lion…(I was in a car but all I had to do was stick my hand out the open window) so that was pretty nuts.

 It was such a quick trip and I would have loved to stay much, much longer. Maybe next time! ;)

We left the day before Easter but got one last chance to worship at a church in Soweto. The singing was beautiful and the dancing (yet dancing) in church was right up my alley. Anyone who knows me well or even doesn’t know I love to dance. I could not think of a better way to spend Passion Week and celebrate the resurrection of our Savior. 

Well tomorrow I’m off to Haiti for a couple of weeks. Justin and I will be working in a couple of orphanages and doing construction projects. So keep us in your prayers! 

The Oyinbo Tours Nigeria

Well it's been a while, but I promise I've been keeping myself very busy. Since my last blog  in December I have been back to Tuscaloosa (reporting all is well there) to see Darlene's house almost completed! I ventured off to Maine for a while and even got some time to spend with friends and family in Tennessee and Alabama. Life is grand!


Saturday night I got back from a wonderfully hot trip to Egbe, Nigeria. After temperatures of well over 100 degrees I welcomed the cooler Tennessee weather. This trip was full of stories and adventure so I guess it's best for me to start at the beginning. I started on my dad's birthday, February 28th headed for the Atlanta airport (we've become good friends). After close to 36 hours of travel I made it to Abuja, Nigeria. I met up with the Samaritans Purse team I would be working with for the next two weeks from North Dakota, Minnesota, and Canada. (I was the token girl/southern.)

After our team met up and headed to a guest house for the night. The next morning we left pretty early for the 7 hours drive to Egbe. Boy was it an crazy ride. There was so much to see. Dozens of burned vehicles on the side of road, mosques, crowds of people at the markets, and more goats than I cared to count. At one point we saw a car wreck, only a few minutes later to see the bloody motorcyclist in the back of a truck, probably on his way to the hospital. We were then stopped at several checkpoints where our drive, Ayo, got in a heated argument no one in our car could understand. See they speak English in Nigeria, well sort of, the thing is you can't really understand them most of the time. So 7 hours later we arrive at the ECWA hospital compound.

We're greeted by Abby on of the missionaries from SP in charge of the hospital revitalization project we would be working on. Jet lagged, we got a tour of the compound and what possible projects we would be working on. Exhausted I went to bed just a few hours later.

Sunday we woke up to head to church...African style. Loved it. They are so energetic and really know how to Praise the Lord! After church we had a quick lunch because Abby had set up an motorcycle tour of the town. She called it the Oyinbo Tour (pronounced o-we-bo), which mean white person in Yoruba (a main language in Nigeria). While this tour was meant for us to see the town, it was more like putting the white people on display. Lol. Either way it was fun and the wind made it feel a lot cooler than the 109 degrees it was. So to answer your question...yes it was hot. Actually really hot. During the day it didn't get below 106 and it got high as 111!

So after our tour of Egbe the drivers took us to the H.E. L.P. orphanage just down the road. We spent the afternoon hanging out with the kids. They were all really sweet, we mainly kicked the soccer ball around, took pictures (or snaps as they call its) and practiced our karate chops. The kids love having their pictures taken and loved using the camera, saying, "Let me snap you."

Only one of them was mean. I called him, "Demon Child Phillip" because is ran around pinching and kicking everyone in the shins. They had some new puppies there too. They were skinny but cute. I also got to go hiking in the bush one after. Thankfully it was really cloudy and not too hot.

Sunday night we gathered around and got to know everyone a little better and since this was a construction trip Mark, the olga (boss) wanted to know our skills. We all shared our testimonies and I'm pretty sure everyone thought I was 35 based on my long story. haha but my biggest mistake was saying, "I can paint the crap out of anything." That statement haunted me the rest of the trip and was a constant running joke the whole week.

We had a great group of people ready to work hard and serve the Lord...through some pretty intensive labor and working in the heat. Monday we got right to work splitting up and making sure we could accomplish as much as possible during the next two weeks. So I painted for 7 days! haha. I ate my words for sure. But the Lord definitely blessed me during my time there and showed me patience and endurance. I learned to be flexible.

Most days I wanted to complain and whine about how tired I was or how insanely hot it was but since I had been reading 2 Corinthians that week I ran across this verse which really gave me perspective and strength to finish strong. "So we do not lost heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day." 2 Corin. 4:16. Verse 17 just get better..."For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." The Word truly is fully of encouragement of all types...even for my whining.

One aspect of this trip that I wish I could have had more of was interaction with Nigerians. We were able to have a short devo with the women every morning, which was wonderful to wake up every morning singing with them and learning a few songs in Yoruba.

"Baba ashayu baba ashayo glory glory abay dobay baba"

Mark said something that really stuck with me about this trip, while there were those of us that did not get to interact as much with the Nigerians as others or were not able to share the hope of Christ first hand. Our work is our witness and we should do it to the best of our ability. Also he told us a story of how a man saw a group of SP gathered around one day praying. The man immediately came up asking more about Jesus and this joy that he so desperately wanted to be a part of. While I did not see any fruit... I know God allowed me to plant seeds. :) And most of all I feel so truly blessed that God chose me to represent Him in Nigeria. That is a true gift.

Pounded Yam...they pretty much mash yam with those giant sticks and then roll it up in all ball. It's delicious!

Everyone was great and there was lots of laughing and inside jokes no one will find humorous. But either way here are some random catch phrases or running jokes we had:

NHL (Nigerian Hockey League)
"You walk like a man"
Where is my friend?
Oh...I forgot to salute you!
I'm coming unglued.

Hopefully this at least gives you a small look into what my time was like there. It's so hard to explain. My suggestion. Go see for yourself. Experience the world. Share the love of Christ. Don't just go to church be the Church. You'll be blown away at how God will bless you. As the Nigerians say, "Go in the Mighty Name of Jesus."

And of course a few more pictures... (who doesn't like those?)