Begun in Faith

     A couple weekends ago, we had the opportunity to visit Ibarra, Ecuador. The Extreme Team in Ibarra is a little over halfway through their two year assignment. We got to observe and help them with their normal and extra activities to learn what our jobs will be like in the future. There were extra activities this particular weekend because it was the first anniversary of their church, The Open Door Church of the Nazarene. Before we got there, the team had already held several evangelistic events throughout the week. We helped with a special children's event and a youth event. We sang many silly songs about Jesus. I think this one involved an elephant.      In the morning, we hiked a ways from the church to a neighborhood with a preschool the missionaries had rented for the children's event. It was a small building with a kitchen, a classroom, and a bathroom. The outside space had a playground and a large cement area. We split up...

Last Friday, I started to climb a mountain with seven other people. Four of us made it to the top. As you can probably imagine, I was not the most physically fit of the bunch, but I climbed every last foot of that mountain. How? I had practiced and prepared, yes, but I had another, more powerful asset; Brian Johnson. One of my best claims to fame is that Brian Johnson is technically my godfather. What I mean is, since I was sixteen, Brian and Dena have agreed to care for my brothers and me if my parents died. This has always been a morbidly exciting prospect for my brothers and me because Brian and Dena are awesome. If you asked any of us who we want to be when we grow up, the answer would be more or less Brian Johnson. To be fair, we were very lucky to grow up with many amazing role models in our church family in Lewiston. However, on the list of who the Thomas children think is cool, Brian has always been the top. I found out recently that Brian and I committed our liv...

I find I have been jostled by Quito. Living in a different place, sleeping in a different bed, walking different sidewalks, eating different food, playing different sports has left me with new bruises, scrapes, and blisters. It seems each day my body surprises me with some new ache or pain. I am being jostled.  I am learning new things about my body (I didn't know a sunburned ear could do that). I've also developed new calluses and stronger muscles. I am becoming accustomed, and in the process, learning how to live in a new way. I know my physical scars will heal and I will be more prepared for the next physical adventure. I can commit to never playing soccer in flats or going outside without sunscreen again, but if I don't follow through, I'll just continue to hurt myself. I will continue to be frustrated, and I won't fulfill my potential. I learn from my mistakes and adjust my behavior, but God does the healing and strengthening. I can't heal my skin,...

The view of Quito from campus. I really want to give you an idea of what my daily life is like, but my class schedule is about to change, so this is a description of what life has been like for the past two weeks. Our team is living on the campus of the Nazarene Theological Seminary of South America with about 20 seminary students. We live in the dorms and usually eat in the cafeteria. The campus is on a hill with offices and homes on the bottom level, dorms above them, then classrooms and the cafeteria, then a church at the top. Beautiful Quito is below and as far as the eye can see. The North Americans have Spanish classes in the morning and the Argentines have seminary classes in the evenings. I'm going to describe a basically empty day because every day gets different activities thrown in. 6:30 My alarm goes off. If you have ever lived with me, you know that this is the signal for the really sound sleep to begin. ?? Change into jeans and a sweatshirt and go to breakf...

So there I was, working and living and minding my own business. I had a great long-ish term substitute job and was enjoying skyping with my future Extreme Nazarene teammates. Then one day, exactly ten days ago, I got a call from Extreme asking me to consider switching teams with a girl who could use more time to raise funds. I prayed for wisdom and I knew that turning this opportunity down would be taking control of this beautiful work God has called me to. I agreed to switch teams the next day and now, nine days later, I am sitting on a dorm bed in Quito, Ecuador wondering if my headache is from dehydration, lack of coffee, or the high altitude. (since I've been drinking water and coffee all morning, it's safe to say it's either the altitude or just a regular headache) I was disappointed to have to say goodbye to my other teammates, but I am so excited to get to start earlier than expected. I met my first new teammate, Ashley, yesterday in Atlanta. We both had a 45 minu...

I have taken the phrase "begun in faith" from a favorite quote: We still cannot imagine that today God doesn't want anything new for us, but simply to prove us in the old way. That is too petty, too monotonous, too undemanding for us. And we simply cannot be constant with the fact that God's cause is not always the successful one, that we really could be "unsuccessful": and yet be on the right road. But this is where we find out whether we have begun in faith or in a burst of enthusiasm.  The quote itself makes me want to argue with it. If something isn't working, it is our responsibility to change it. When we are unsuccessful in accomplishing God's will, we must evaluate what we did wrong, how we can be better next time. But then I remember the power of this quote is in its context. This is the end of a letter Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in 1938 to leaders of the Confessing Church in Germany. The Confessing Church had broken away from the German...

Those of you who were around Lewiston First Church in 1997 may remember an assortment of photographs that were scattered through the upstairs classrooms. Photographs taped to colored printer paper taped to the wall. They didn't need titles because everyone knew they were pictures of Malagasy street children. Looking at those pictures is my earliest memory of considering mission work. At the beginning of my freshman year of high school, I was considering schedules, course options, career options, my future, when I got a picture in my mind of myself teaching Malagasy children in a classroom. My heart felt on fire. That was exactly what I wanted to do. That was what God wanted me to do. I spent the rest of high school scaring my parents with aspirations of living in Africa. God used this time to make me His own. The biggest struggle was coming to terms with eventually living far away from my family. I counted the costs, and God equipped me with the faith to know His will is worth ...