"we've come full circle"

In 2010 I graduated with these girls. Has it been four years already? 

Then

We began our college journey back in 2006. We met in the smallest room on campus: our Freshmen dorm. It was in this place that we shared our stories, laughed for hours, cried on each other's shoulders, gossiped about boys, pulled all-nighters, ate the most unhealthiest (but oh-so delicious!) food, and watched endless hours of Friends. It was good times, the best times ... so much so that we did it all over again ... for three more years.

College would not have been the same without them. 

Now

weekend adventures: bowers museum

Being a resident of Orange County for almost eight years, you'd think I've seen it all. The beach. The OC Fair. The Circle in Orange. The high school where they filmed Laguna Beach. The hip(ster) coffee spots. 

And yet, there are more hidden treasures awaiting for me to discover in this extravagant place.

We took a family trip to Bowers Museum, which is located in Santa Ana ... who knew there was a museum in Santa Ana! From exhibit to the next, we learned an array of cultures and their history. Kinda reminded me of taking a field trip in high school, except I was actually interested with the artificats in front of me. From the music of Beethoven to animal mummies (yes, animal mummies), this museum surprisingly held a lot of history. 

Here's a glimpse of our day:

weekend adventures: library day

It's official: Brian & I are official library cardholder members in Orange County. I guess it means I need to start reading more ...

To add to our library excursions, we visited our alma mater. Since being students there, they renovated our school's library. Pretty sweet if you asked me. 

mozambican feet

When I'm in Mozambique, I don't care what I look like. 

Messy, greasy hair. Little to no make-up. Legs and arms adorned with mosquito bites. Wearing the same clothes twice (or three times) in a row. Showering only every 3-4 days.

Yep. And my husband still loves me, including my not-so-glamorous moments :)

What most people, both my team members and the Mozambican people, notice about me when I'm there are my feet.

I call them Mozambican feet. I love the feeling of the center's sand in between my toes. If I could, I'd choose to walk around the center barefoot; even one time I walked all over the place with no flip flops for several hours (one of the girls was wearing mine). Most of the time, my feet are even dirtier than the kids there; that says a lot. 

I like who I am when I'm in Mozambique. Aside from not caring what I look like, I'm more carefree in the way I think, act, and say. And, more importantly, I get a little closer with God each day. I never have to worry about filtering how I present myself to other people; and I enjoy the freedom in that. It's a shame how I oftentimes return from my trips and, slowly but surely, return to the person I was. As much as I try not to, I go back to my natural habits: conscious of how I look before work, how I say things in front of new people, and how I carry myself in the public.

But when did all of those things ever matter? Who are we trying to impress? Our natural tendency is to think about how other people will perceive us. And most of our time is spent not only on our appearance, but knowing the right or "proper" words to say, or controlling how we act in a group setting. We have a desire to control everything in our life, so we try to control how people see us by basically becoming the person we think they want us to be. We waste time putting on this "false self," a made-up identity that deters us from who we are called to be. In reading Brennan Manning's Abba's child, I came across this quote which best summarizes how we ought to live:

"Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is an illusion."

When we know and accept that we are defined in Him, nothing else matters. So why should I care about wearing different masks to please people?

Here's something I've learned: When you're on a mission trip, you're called to step out of your comfort zone and be present with the person or people God places in front of you. If we get caught up with the distractions, the worries, and our own selfish needs, we miss the point and we miss out on the unique opportunities He gives us. 

I hope one day I can be the person who I was in Mozambique here in Orange County. Still working on it.

Sidenote: A little dirt don't hurt, right?

Hours after I walked around the center barefoot.
Amazing what baby wipes can do. 

mozambique adventures

A little taste of our time here ...

portuguese e muito bom.

Six years ago, I fell in love with the language, Portuguese. Portuguese is one of my favorite languages to speak (kinda) and listen to. If you ever watched the movie, Rio, then you know what I’m talking about.

Bom dia.
Bom dia.
Tudo bem?
Si. Gracas a Deus.

Whenever I hear people speak Portuguese back home in the states, I always think of Mozambique. It was the first place I’ve ever heard anyone speak the language; who would’ve thought that a country in Africa could speak Portuguese?

When we arrived last Wednesday, one of the first times I had to speak Portuguese (since my last visit) was during customs. Each of us took two bags filled with our personal items, supplies for ministry, and donations; we had 16 huge bags total. Because of past experiences through this process, we were pulled aside once again so that the airport personnel could look through our bags.
         I went first. The guy who checked my bags was not the nicest personnel there; with my luck, I had the guy that was the most stubborn of them all. At first, I couldn’t understand what he said in Portuguese. Often times, the Mozambican people say their sentences really fast that it almost sounds like they’re slurring. So after saying a lot of “Que dice?” and “Eu nao entendo,” he proceeded to open my bag. With my best Portuguese (or at least the ones I could remember), I tried my best to explain the items in my bag. Bag after bag, it was the same. He questioned what he saw; and I, who was scared, confused, and exhausted, responded in the best way that I could, which I didn’t even know what I was saying sometimes.

When one of the missionaries, Jesse, came in, the first thing I said to him was “Vovo,” which means grandpa (an inside joke we had the last time I was here). Although, to some people, it may not be the ideal thing to say to someone face to face after a long period of time, it was comforting to speak the little bit of Portuguese that I knew to someone that I knew really well and knew I wouldn’t feel timid around.

Since arriving here last week, my Portuguese flows so much better and with a lot of ease. I may not always speak it perfectly, but it has allowed me to make new and keep existing friendships over. Since last week, I’ve been able to reconnect with old friends, learning about what they’ve been up, hearing their hopes and dreams, and sharing some of my stories with them. And I’ve also been able to develop new friends, young and old, through day-to-day conversations.

Singing and listening to worship songs in their language is one of my favorite things here. It’s such a beautiful thing to witness, how beautifully the words intertwine with the music playing in the background. Most of the songs they sing here, I sing back home; so to hear them in a different language, especially ones that I’m familiar with, is such an incredible experience. I enjoy listening to the voices harmonize and observing how passionate people are in worship.

 I’m falling in love with the language all over again.

one day tripper

A few days before Memorial Day weekend, we decided to be spontaneous (well, our version of spontaneous) for the upcoming weekend. We decided to drive out to San Diego and spend a whole day at Coronado and Old Town San Diego.

It was the perfect day to be down there. Perfect weather. Not super busy. Good grub.

 Love him.

Yesu Wakanaka (Jesus is very Good)

Dear Family & Friends,

This coming July, we are amazingly blessed to return to Mozambique. We have the opportunity to lead a team of Vanguard University students to serve on a three-week mission trip. As you probably know, God has placed Mozambique on our hearts for the past seven years. Through our trips there, God has revealed so much of His presence to and love for us in ways that still resonate today. We have been praying for the past two years for God to provide an opportunity to return to this beautiful place we’ve called our second home. We are so excited to obey God’s call to mission in a place that has already been such a blessing to us.

Throughout Scripture, we see that God’s heart is broken for those who need Him the most — the poor and the forgotten. He has called His followers to be His hands and feet to reach the orphans and widows of our world. This trip to Mozambique provides us the opportunity to play a part in God’s story by partnering with a ministry that is dedicated to caring for and nurturing orphans.

We will be working with Iris Ministries at the Centro Arco-Iris Machava located outside of the capitol city, Maputo. They are steadfastly committed to living our greatest commandment: love God with everything by loving all people. They have over 10 centers across Mozambique that provide homes for orphans, healthcare for the sick, and food for the hungry, all while spreading the Good News (They are affiliated with over 10,000 churches!). For more information about Iris, click here. The center in Machava is first and foremost an orphanage. They currently house and support over 80 children from the ages 4 to 18. Secondly, the center is the church for the surrounding community and has lived out the Gospel there in life-changing ways for the last 15 years. Lastly, the center is a community school that is currently educating over 400 students. The heart of the center is to be a blessing to a poverty-stricken community. God truly has His hand on this place.

As a team, we will be involved in the following aspects:

• Church. There will be opportunities to share testimonies, take part in leading worship, share the Word, and perform skits.
• Outreach. Several times during the week, we will be visiting the community through prayer walks and local church outreaches. We will be participating in the monthly service called Som do Céu (Sound of Heaven) in Maputo. We will visit the site of a future center located in Catembe, an area where they are laying the ground work for a church/orphanage plant.
• Education. We will be a resource to the school on a daily basis ranging from teaching Bible lessons to assisting the teachers in any way.  
• Children. Our most common action will be spending time with the kids. Our goal is to build relationships and to love them unconditionally as Christ would have us do. 

In order to go, we each need to raise approximately $3,800. This amount will cover ground transportation, food, supply costs, and ministry expenses. We will need both prayerful and financial support throughout this process, and we are writing to ask you to prayerfully consider whether or not God would have you be one such supporter. We would greatly appreciate your financial assistance, and hope you would consider contributing towards the necessary funds. However, we covet your prayers even more so. We truly believe in the power of prayer, and would ask that you would partner with us in that aspect of the trip.

We look forward to what God is going to do in and through us on this journey. We trust that He’s going to use us for His ends, and we are excited that you get to be a part of it. God has called all of us to play a part in His Story, and we look forward to sharing what He is doing in Machava, Mozambique.

For His Glory,

Brian & Christine Stephens

If you do choose to financially support us, you may do so in one of the following ways: 

***Write a check, payable to Vanguard University, add a note with our names in it, and mail it to the following address:

Vanguard University

Attn: Outreach Ministries

55 Fair Dr.

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

OR

***Contribute to our team online by filling out our 3-step online secure form on Vanguard University's website.

All donations to our team are tax-deductible as allowed by law, and to aide in the issuance of receipts, please do not write our names anywhere on the check, if you choose this payment method. If you choose to pay online, please type our names in the box labeled “Team Member Name.”

fishers of men

As I mentioned before on my post here, Brian & I will be returning to Mozambique in the summer leading a team of amazing Vanguard college students and alumni. Last weekend we camped out in the beautiful area of Lake Cachuma located in Santa Barbara. Despite the oh-so-cold/freezing weather, it was a weekend filled with team bonding, ministry, and observing God's creation.

There were times during the weekend that I stood back and watched our team. My heart filled with joy as I tried to hold back tears. I feel blessed to be a part of this team that God put together. I now see why He made us wait...

It was to take these amazing people on this journey, to walk with them through trials and joys, and to celebrate what God is doing in our lives.

From Left to Right
Alex & Camille McClure, Maggie Carranza, Korynn Whitaker, Naomi Rivas, Liz Guevara,  me & the hubs

thoughts on a quarter of a century.

A few weeks ago, I turned 25.

For once I almost forgot it was my birthday. The week prior to turning a quarter of a century, I was balancing two jobs, preparing for our Mozambique team meeting, involved with church, etc. I knew the day was coming; I just didn't have time to "enjoy" my final days as 24.

I've also come to a realization that I'm not a fan of my birthday. Maybe it's because of age. Or maybe I'm just realizing how silly of an idea that is. We invite people to spend the day with us, to spend money going out with us, to buy presents for us ... to celebrate the day of our birth. Pretty selfish right? I was almost tempted to not have a birthday dinner; a part of me just wanted to rest and do nothing.

But as many people reminded me, 25 is big deal. It is one of those monumental markers. So, despite my original plans, I had a dinner; I kept it simple, had some of my favorite people with me, and, of course, had some grub.

Despite how January started off crazy, I have a good feeling about this year. 25, get ready for this one!

(And yes, after two years of begging my hubs finally bought me a banjo.)

portland discoveries

This past weekend was filled with friendship rekindling, venturing in fields & streets of color, and eye-opening conversations of life.

I ventured to the northwest, mainly Portland area Friday evening to spend some much needed quality time with a dear friend of mine before she headed off in her next endeavor. I came into the trip with some expectations of my own, but also with an abundant amount of room for whatever came our way. But the trip ended up being more than that. It reminded us of why we became such good friends and continue to be strong sisters. It reminded us of who we were before and how much faith it took to get us to where we are now in our lives. And more importantly, it reminded us of God's faithfulness.

 

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11, NIV