I’ve been in Cochabamba for over 8 months now!
Can you believe it?!
It has been such an incredible experience so far, and I wanted to share some of it with you.
Here’s a update on what has been going on for the past few months!
| I’ve been in Costa Rica for about two and a half months now. It’s been a great experience so far. Spanish classes have been going great…though sadly, I’m not fluent yet. 🙂 It has been such an incredible opportunity to learn the language, get to know some other missionaries, experience a new country and culture, and participate in ministry here. I feel so blessed to be here, and looking forward to continuing my ministry in Bolivia after I leave Costa Rica. Here is just a taste of the experiences that I’ve had so far in Costa Rica: |
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| Praises & Prayers: Praise for the unity and great friendships being made amongst all the students here. Praise for the many opportunities we’ve already had to share about my calling and about the Lord with people I’ve met in Costa Rica. Please continue to pray as my language studies continue. I’m making progress, but still have a long ways to go. 🙂 Pray for my new missionary friends that are finishing up their studies here in August, and will be heading all around Latin America to serve. Praise for all of those who have been faithful supporters both in prayer and financially. I am so thankful for each one of you. |
It is kind of crazy that I’ve been in Costa Rica for a week already. It seems both longer than that and shorter at the same time.
Due to some illness and injury upon arriving, I haven’t been able to get as familiar with my new home as I would like. Yet.
But it has still been a great week!
I arrived safely to the country on May 12…travel all went real easy, and immigration/customs upon arriving was a breeze. I’ve been hearing stories of others in the group that have had to wait hours in line, but thankfully, I was able to just walk right up to an agent. I was picked up by a staff member from the school with another new student, and the other students were all there to greet us when we arrived at the campus about an hour later.
Friday, morning we had an orientation meeting, just giving us some of the basics of the school. In the afternoon, we had a chance to see San Jose a bit. A couple of the other single ladies took me to the ATM, the store and out for coffee at one of their favorite places. And then we had the weekend to try and settle in.
Right now there are only about 15 students at the school. About half are starting their second term, while I am starting my first.
The first week of each term always focuses on church planting and missions before getting into those Spanish classes. Not sure if this is supposed to be easing us in or not. 🙂 But this week we had full days listening to the stories, experience and advice of various church planters and missionaries that are already active in Latin America.
It’s been interesting to hear their stories, but also just a lot of (great) information to take in all at once. We had a chance to fellowship all together at lunch today…one of the guys decided to grill for the whole group…so we were able to hang out and enjoy getting to know each other a little bit more.
Below are some pictures from the week. As you can see, it’s rainy season in San Jose right now, so it rains every afternoon at least. Today, it was raining most of the day, but I’m sure that keeps things a bit cooler too, so I’m not going to complain. 🙂
Thank you again for all your prayers and support! It is so exciting to finally be taking these steps on my way to Bolivia. I’m hoping my high school Spanish knowledge is going to come back real quick once I get into class on Monday.
But I really can’t express how grateful I am to each of you for helping me get here.
THANK YOU!
Can you believe it’s 2022 already?! The last couple years have both flown by and seemed like forever all at the same time.
It has been quite a year! I started 2021 without having much progress in my support raising journey, being a little discouraged with the process, but still trusting that this was God’s call on my life.
But as I’ve said before, and will continue to say…God is faithful.
I spent this fall traveling around, sharing a bit of my story with churches and small groups all around Illinois. It was such a blessing to meet so many wonderful pastors and congregations with a heart for missions, and a privilege to have the opportunity to share with them about Gods call on my life.
Though I still need to raise about $150 of support each month, I’ve been given the ok to start the process of making plans to leave for Bolivia.
Part of those plans include a term or two of Spanish language training in Costa Rica. I was hoping that I would be able to start with the new students in the January 2022 term. However, I also have been trying to get a few medical issues figured out before leaving the country, and that required surgery. Thankfully, I was able to get that scheduled before the end of the year, but recovering (which is going very well) made travel in January tough. So right now, the plan is that I will be heading to Costa Rica in the spring to start language school at CINCEL.
Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to share about ministry in Bolivia with many more churches and individuals in this first part of 2022. I love that I get to share about the mission of the Bolivian Hope Center with people all over.
It’s crazy knowing that this holiday season may be the last one in the states for a while. I enjoyed spending time with family. We went to the zoo, we drove around looking at Christmas lights and singing carols, had our ‘traditional’ rib dinner…made some fun memories to carry with me.
In a Q&A time at one of the churches this fall, a teen asked me if I was excited or nervous about going to Bolivia. My answer was Yes! I won’t deny there are moments of nerves, but I am so excited and thankful for the chance to follow God’s calling and serve in Bolivia.
Would you remember me in prayer as I reach the finish line of this first stage of my ministry?
If you are interested in partnering with me on this journey, please visit:
Over the past several weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to share a bit about my story and God’s call on my life to missions.
Though public speaking has never been (and probably never will be) my favorite thing, it has been exciting to share. I continue to see God’s hand throughout my life, and especially in this process of raising support and getting ready to follow Him to Bolivia. I pray that I am able to encourage someone else to see and obey God’s calling in their own life.
In one of churches I’ve been at recently, I talked a bit about how God’s timing and his ways are perfect. I first heard the call to be a missionary when I was 19 on a short term trip to Mexico. But when I came home and tried to discern where he might want me to serve longer term, nothing seemed to work out. It’s be a few years…ok, a lot of years…since that trip to Mexico, but I don’t think the years since that trip have been wasted. God has been teaching me and preparing me, and his ways are far better than my own. I’m so blessed to have the opportunity to serve Him wherever He calls, even if right now that is by sharing my calling, my story with people here.
Also, an update…I’m only about $250/month away from being fully funded and ready to head to language school and then Bolivia. God is so good! Thank you to the generosity of so many who are sacrificially giving to help me follow God’s calling on my life.
Now that I have finally moved forward on a new destination for serving, I’m back to working on raising my budget. So I’m trying out a t-shirt fundraiser. Who doesn’t love a good t-shirt?
I wanted to design a shirt that would speak to my calling to serve the Lord internationally as a missionary, but also one that would serve as a reminder that we are all called by God. We are called into fellowship with Christ, called to be a light wherever we are as we serve and care for those around us. We are called to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with him.
If you would like to order a shirt, know that all proceeds are going straight into my missions account!
100% Cotton Soft Shirts. Color: Dusty Blue
Sizes available and costs
Youth M, L: $20
XS, S, M, L, XL: $20
2X, 3X, 4X: $23
The soft shirts are nicer and softer than a regular t-shirt but run a little a little smaller. I’ve been told that if you are between two sizes, you would probably want to choose the larger.
Pre-Orders start NOW and end on August 12. The shirts should be available before the end August!
You can place an order with me by commenting or emailing at bethb.to.go@gmail
Just let me know what size(s) and how many you would like!
I can work with PayPal, cashapp, Venmo, cash, or check. If you’re local, I’m happy to hand deliver one they come in. Shipping is an option for an additional $2.
Please feel free to share anywhere and everywhere!!
In May, after a wonderful week in El Paso and Carlinville, I was excited to get home and start back up hard in the itineration trail. However, a week or so after I returned home, I found out that I will no longer be going to Togo. Though Phil’s (my mentor missionary’s) cancer treatments are going well, his doctors have advised him that it would be at least a year before they would be comfortable telling him he could return to Togo. This means that my team is now finding other places to serve. For a minute, I felt a bit sorry for myself, since it felt like I was back to square one and starting over in this process. But I know that none of this is about me, and I figure being flexible is a pretty key element of what I’m working toward, and I was excited for whatever the Lord was leading me to.
Several members of my Togo team are going to work in the Ivory Coast, doing similar ministries to what we were to do in Togo. But each of them felt a strong calling that they were to serve in Africa. I haven’t felt things quite as specifically, and left it open for God to send me somewhere completely different if that was his plan. And it seems like that’s his plan! 🙂
I began talking with a missionary that I had connected with during my initial steps of the process a couple years ago. After many emails and zoom calls, I am taking that first step again and making plans to head to Cochabamba, Bolivia, working with Justin and Janet Henry at the Bolivian Hope Center (BHC).
Though the day-to-day ministries are currently being affected by Covid restrictions, the BHC is at its core a refuge for children. They provide meals, tutoring, and training for children in the neighborhood. It is a home where up to 36 children will have their own beds instead of sleeping on the prison floors with their mothers. It includes a ministry that cares for the younger children that remain inside the prison: providing them with meals, clothing and Biblical training. There is a feeding program five days a week for all the remaining children inside the prison. There are plans for a halfway house type of ministry for the women leaving the prison, with housing and training facilities, as well as the chance to reconnect mothers with their children. There are additional ministries to the unreached people groups of Bolivia, which will start back up once overland travel is allowed again.
I’m excited for what God had in store for me there, or where ever (in case he decides to make me pivot again:)). He is faithful, and I will continue to trust that this call to missions is his plan for me, even if I don’t understand every part of the process.
Will you continue to pray with me as I ask people to join me as financial partners on this journey?
Music has always been something I’ve loved. I’m not a musician, but I love music. I remember memorizing Scripture through the music of Psalty’s camping trip on a record in my living room. I love it when I find a song that just fills my heart in a certain moment.
Keith and Kristyn Getty are modern hymn writers that have some great songs in their catalog. This one came out a few years ago, but a friend who is also currently on a journey of raising missionary support reminded me of it a few weeks ago. It has been redone from an original 1931 version, and the language is a little ‘old,’ but this struck a cord and shouts out the urgent call to global witness.
Facing a task unfinished that drives us to our knees
A need that, undiminished rebukes our slothful ease
We, who rejoice to know Thee Renew before Thy throne
The solemn pledge we owe Thee to go and make Thee known
Where other lords beside Thee hold their unhindered sway
Where forces that defied Thee defy Thee still today
With none to heed their crying for life, and love, and light
Unnumbered souls are dying and pass into the night
We bear the torch that flaming Fell from the hands of those
Who gave their lives proclaiming That Jesus died and rose
Ours is the same commission, The same glad message ours
Fired by the same ambition To Thee we yield our powers
O Father who sustained them, O Spirit who inspired
Saviour, whose love constrained them to toil with zeal untired
From cowardice defend us, from lethargy awake!
Forth on Thine errands send us to labour for Thy sake
We go to all the world
With kingdom hope unfurled
No other name has power to save
But Jesus Christ The Lord
Check out the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFHdPCNIiwM
I will admit that the itineration process can get a little discouraging at times. I’m so excited to serve, and I just wish the process didn’t take so long. But it gets frustrating mostly when I forget who is really doing it all. I will continue to trust in God’s faithfulness and his perfect timing.
Recently, I was reminded of God’s faithfulness as I seek to follow him. At the end of May, I had the opportunity to attend the Illinois Assemblies of God District Council meetings. It was a three day conference where all the pastors and other ministry workers in Illinois get together. I was excited, but also the thought of lots of small talk with strangers made the introvert in me cringe and want to curl up in the corner for a while. But God is faithful, and the week was amazing. I had a wonderful time at the council meetings. There were great times of worship and amazing speakers. I was able to meet missionaries that I have been supporting for years. I met an Illinois pastor who I found out was a student of my dad’s back in high school in California, and another who was a student at the high school I went to a few years after me. I was able to celebrate with Pastor Garrett from my home church as he was recognized as a licensed pastor.
I was able to make lots of new friends and connections, and had the chance to share my ministry in Togo with all kinds of new people. Four new churches and individuals have said they would be willing to support me monthly, including one fellow missionary who is currently raising her own monthly support. I have also been invited to speak at several churches over the next few months to share more about my ministry. So even when I get discouraged at times, I know that as I do my part, it is God who has all the steps planned out. He knows how I will find the support for my ministry, and I just need to continue to trust him. I am excited to follow-up with others that I met over those few days and hopefully make some more great connections.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support!
I’ve requested prayer on social media for my mentor missionary, Phil. He was diagnosed early this year with cancer right before Phil and Robin were scheduled to return to Togo. Understandably, they remained in the US to continue meeting with doctors and start treatment plans. Phil has already completed his course of radiation treatment, and is working through his rounds of chemotherapy. But despite the fact that they are currently in the states AND dealing with major health concerns, they are still hard at work for the children of Africa.
Throughout the week, they were teaching a group of pastoral students on the theology and practices of ministry to children via Zoom. They had nine students- a good mix of men and women, from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia. It was such an incredible opportunity to work with the next generation of pastors in a nation that just beginning to start their ministry to kids.
We have been praying for health and strength for both Phil and Robin this week. They have also requested prayer for the technical aspect of the class, counting on internet and power in places where those are not always reliable. Most importantly, we are praying that this training would impact the perspective and the future ministry of these students.
hismerciesarenew 