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Posted in The Journey!!!
by Traday Caufield
on 7/4/2008
Hey there Family! How is everyone?!?
Well...just wanted to have a chat with ya.
In one of my previous blogs, I wrote about some of the things God had been teaching me at the time: His faithfulness in keeping His promises whether we choose LIFE or DEATH.
Well...since then, I have not stopped learning. I have not stopped seeing. I have not stopped hearing. I have not stopped reflecting on my life and how He has carried me and brought me to the place I am today.
I would say that the things I'm learning now are still on the topic of His faithfulness, but I guess from a different perspective. Before coming on this race, it was so easy for me to fall into a state of worry...even to the point of unconciously worrying. It was easy for me to conciously or unconciously dwell forever on something that was bothering me. And although I would pray concerning these things, I never would actually give these worries to God in exchange for His peace. And naturally, I'm a layed back and easy going person. It was on the inside that all the battles and turmoil would take place. I would never let on because of my 'lack of trust' issues that anything was wrong with me, because then I would worry about what whoever I told was REALLY thinking about me.
Since I have been on this race, living in community with team IGNITE mostly, we have become family. We have had our times where we needed to just pour out what was raging on the inside. We have had to get honest with each other. We have had to be vulnerable with one another. We have had to trust God that the people He put each of us with on this team was actually in His perfect will. And this has never been easy for me...not for a long time!
I used to think I could make it on my own.
I used to think I didn't need too many people in my life.
I used to think that having too many friends was not worth the trouble...the ups and downs and shakiness of relationships.
I used to think life for me would always be like that.
But then God put me in a land far from my house on 11th Street...far from my room that was my hiding place and "safe zone". He put me in a land where I had to get aquainted with 26 racers who arrived in Swaziland, Africa the same day I did. He put me in a land with a new family (Gary and Lisa Black). He put me there...but not before I took a step of faith in "trusting" God, in walking in obedience, and in trusting my spiritual parents (Mike and Patti Paschall).
Sure, these last 6 months have been filled to capacity with being open, being vulnerable, and letting God do what He wants to do in my life in order that I can walk in freedom, in faith, in life. And I have had moments where I would fall into that relapse mode and not want to be open with them about what was going on spiritually or emotionally with me.
But through it all, it's been quite a thrill of a journey!
Time is drawing near to when we return back to the States, to when I return back to my house on 11th Street, to when I have the luxury of going into my room...my safe haven.
But I believe now that when I get there, things won't be the same. I believe that they can't be...atleast for me. I've seen too much...too many hurting people...hurting in too many ways. If I stay in my safe haven with answers to problems that people have, how can they be healed? how can they be free? how can they know that life doesn't always have to be the inward battles of the soul?
This is just a piece of one of the testimonies of my life.
God is faithful. God is aware. God is the answer.
Be blessed!!
Enjoy the Journey!!
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Posted in El Salvador
by Traday Caufield
on 6/30/2008
Hello Family!!
Another new day indeed. We are here in Jinotepe, Nicaragua going back and forth from here to Diriamba to minister. We have been here for a few days now...somewhere around 5 days or so. But more about that later. I wanted to share some pictures with you of some of the other things we did while in El Salvador. Hope you enjoy them...
This is a Friday night with Silvia and her family celebrating her mother's birthday. This was our first night here in San Salvador, El Salvador. Victor, the guy in the white shirt, Silvia's friend, picked us up and brought us to the restaurant. Little did we know that this was only the first of all the acts of service Victor would do for us.
So this is day two in El Salvador. They thought that after so much traveling we needed to take a break and have a little 'R and R'. So once again, Victor picked us up from the Tica Hotel, we had all our beach going things, suits on and ready to go. We made a day of it. Afterwards, we went to the arcade at Multiplaza Mall. Intially we were searching for bumper cars, which they didn't have. I saw this boxing game and thought...'I think I can take him!' So I slid the game card through, my round started and we were at it. At first he was hullin me out, but then I got my left hook in. Shoot...the right control didn't work...so all my shots were left hooks. By the end of the game I had nearly won, but my time ran out. As tempting as it was to put the coin in to finish the game, I could not. I had sustained muscle failure from all the repetitive left hooks. When I woke up the next day, I couldn't pick up anything heavy or flex my left arm. From my elbow to my wrist is where most of the injury was sustained...but in my mind I was still the winner. HA!! Looking back it took about 1 week for my arm to completely heal.
I talked all that noise about how I would eat some frog...you know, try it out, see how it tastes. But when we got to the food section of the market...I looked at this frog meal and couldn't do it. I think it was because of all the leg action...I mean...look at it. Look at the feet.
But I hear it tastes like chicken...and since I know what chicken taste like I decided I would take their word and leave it at that.
Another day at a different beach--Playa El Tunco. At this beach the waves were coming in big, and they were crashing down hard. The tide was rising...the surfers were doing their thing and I enjoyed it all. I was standing on a rock that later was submerged when I took this photo. Heather and I were fascinated by the rocks, the waves and the beauty of the creation of God!
Look at it!! I had so much fun...not necessarily in the water...I didn't really get in. I did get my feet and legs wet when the waves came rushing in, but I wanted to enjoy the black sand, the blue sky, and the fresh air.
Here is Puerta Del Diablo. The very top peak up there is where we climbed 225 steps to get. To look out and see the tree covered mountains, the lake in the distance with the volcano behind it, and a small city like gathering of houses in the valley was amazing. We carefully walked back down the steps and went up another 129 steps on the other side where there was a cave like area. From there you could get a different perspective of this beautiful area. This is where I took the photo from.
 These were our last moments with Victor...I mean this dude catored to us. He expressed infinate patience with us...especially when He would take us to a store to get a few items. For some reason it took us forever to come out of the store...looking at things that we knew we were not going to get, picking it up and putting it back down, going back to the first item after looking at 5 different items, forgetting one thing once we got through the checkout...ya know...silly things like this. We had so much fun with him and his mother. She was amazing as well. Whether you were hungry or not, you were going to get food when you went to her house. One day, upon walking into her house, I guess I had some sweat beads upside my head. She rushed to the refrigerator and got a bottle of water out and gave it to me. She insistantly told me to drink it. So I opened it up and drank it. The reality was, yes it was hot, but I had just opened a bottle of water in the car, drank some, left in the car so I wouldn't forget it. Of course, she didn't know this, but this just goes to show you her amazing hospitality towards us.
And finally, this is me opening up a gift that Victor gave each of us. In my last blog, I wrote about how I have a family in El Salvador...the Chavez family. After these days, I now have two more families. Victor and his amazing mother is now a part of my family as well as Silvia and her family.
So this is only a glimps of what we got to do and see while we were in El Salvador. We came to minister and to bless and we did, but in turn we were ministered to and blessed abundantly by the people. Nothing like love, and nothing like knowing that the Spirit of God is with you in the midst of it all!!
I hope you enjoyed the pics!
Be blessed!
Enjoy The Journey!!!!
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Posted in El Salvador
by Traday Caufield
on 6/29/2008
What´s goin on Family?
Well today is a brand new day...Sunday. It´s about 4pm now, and since I have the time, I want to tell you how my adventures in El Salvador went. First, it was Molly, Jeanette, Heather and I who chose El Salvador while the others in the squad split up and went to wherever they felt like God was leading. The most thrilling news went through my ears upon arriving in El Salvador. You want to know what it was? Alright, I´ll tell you..
The news was from Silvia, our friend from Costa Rica and our contact in El Salvador..."Yall (meaning the four of us) will be split up and will be living in separate houses with 4 families that I have chosen. They are my friends and they are very nice." That was all I needed...you should have seen the kool-aid smile I had. We all had one. We were filled with joy and laughter at the thought of us with our minimal Spanish living in the homes of people who we thought only spoke Spanish.
As for me, my home was located directly across the street from the U.S. Embassy, so it was about the safest place of my life. Cameras posted up all over the place, guards decked out in black and white uniform with huge, intimidating guns and they themselves being scattered about always watching and waiting.
This is my family, the Chavez Family. From left to right: Jaaneth, Francisco, Tikva (5), Asael (7) and Meshak (9). I can´t express the gratitude I have towards them for taking me in and treating me like family! After spending these days with them, I know that I have a home in El Salvador.
The days were spent having great conversations with Francisco, walking to the mall with Jaaneth and having conversations with her, playing games and having movie nights with the kids, coloring with them, going to the park one day, watching soccer on TV and getting krunk when goals were scored, and my favorite...sharing meals and icecream together. For the most part, we always ate as a family...breakfast, lunch and dinner.
It didn´t take long for me to mesh with the kids. They were very shy at first, but it didn´t take long for them to get over it either. My favorite memory with them is hard to call because there were many. But I think I can narrow it down...it was the day we played ´hide and go seek´. Tikva would count and as Asael followed me, I thought he was going to hide with me, which was cool...I was all about it. But as I hid, I noticed he just stood there watching me and when Tikva got to 20 and came to find me, Asael would yell out "She´s here!!, she´s here, she´s here!!" Then I would break out in laughter and say to Asael, "Come on now...how can you just throw me to the wolves like that?" Asael and Tikva would be in the heat of laughter as she was on her way to tag me. She´d tell me to run to base and so I did and the game would start all over again. I picked one good hiding spot one time though...upstairs and under the bed that I slept in...perfect hiding spot...until they found me. But I managed to last a while up there. Fun times indeed! If I had to name a second, which, now that I think about it, really ties with first, it would be watching movies and having ice cream with them. We watched great movies like "Spirit", "Cinderella", "Shrek 3", and "Valiant".
There´s probably a short book I could write about this family that I have learned about them in these few days. Things like their kindness and hospitality, about how they are quick to serve, about the love they have for their kids and for humanity, about how they teach their kids to pray and believe God for the things that they want, about their truly living a life of faith and trusting in God. I was priveleged to hear about many stories where God proved Himself in their lives and that in itself was a huge encouragement. It gave me the opportunity to see from a different perspective the faithfulness of God.
This, really, is a micro summary of all the fun adventures I had with this family. I do miss them. But, maybe one day, hopefully sooner than later I will get the opportunity to see them again, to give them all the hugs we shared daily, to catch up on how life is going with them...maybe share a meal together. Yep, that would be nice!
So, this is only one side of the adventures I had in El Salvador. Much was crammed into these ten days. Much, much more. I´ll letcha in on it a little later though...I´m outta time now.
Peace and love to you all!
Enjoy The Journey!!
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Posted in Real Life
by Traday Caufield
on 6/25/2008
Hello to All!!
We are fast approaching our last month here on the race. As a matter of fact our bus will be here in a few hours around 5am. Right now it's a little after 2am here in San Salvador, El Salvador and much has been on my mind and heart lately. When I go to bed, I find that in my heart there are lots of questions, lots of ideas, and lots of concerns. I'm not overwhelmed by them, they are just there.
To name only a few, it seems that a day doesn't pass where I don't think about the experiences God has blessed me to have and to thank Him for them. A day doesn't pass where I don't think about my family (not only my biological family, but my family at ECF). And lately the days have not passed without me thinking about how God knew the day I was born He would put me in a place like this at a time like this.  The Word of God says, "The plans of the Lord stand firm forever; the purposes of His heart throughout all generations." I try to wrap my mind around it...the generations past...and it's hard. A couple of days ago, as I was thinking on the Lord, I began the futile effort of trying to imagine what heaven is like...and even more, I began trying to imagine what "ETERNITY" was like. I'm not sure how long I sat there pondering on these things. I finally snapped out of my day dreaming and thought to myself..."Traday, the most beautiful thing you can imagine won't almost or remotely compare to the glory of the Kingdom of God."
Take, for example, this picture to the left here. I was fascinated with it. I had never seen such a sight. We were coming down from the volcano in El Salvador and I was taken by these clouds in the sky. I had to have a picture of such a sight!! I was fascinated at how God in this dark world gave me something so awesome to behold.
As I thought about eternity and the Kingdom of God, the reality of being in the presence of a King, a God, an all powerful, all knowing righteous KING brought to my mind and heart how much I NEED God. I need His mercy, I need His forgiveness, I need His love, I need HIM. I began thinking about how He is a just and fair God and because He is fair, when He judges, we have no room for argument...which led me back to examining my life. Yes, I am forgiven, yes, I am saved, yes, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He came and died for all humanity because of the sins of the world, yet at the same time I question if I am REALLY being who He created me to be. No doubt that I am saved, but am I walking in fear rather than faith? Am I living for Him only SOMEtimes? Really, am I selfishly wanting to see in this thing we call Christianity "what's in it for me?" Amazing how we go in and out of these phases of how we label ourselves on where we stand in our confidence in God...the mountain vs the valley, being on fire and being ice cold, be sure and having questions.
As for me, I haven't arrived...I'm still in the earth...I'm still learning...I'm still getting to know God, I'm still getting to know His Holy Spirit and how to live life in communion with the Holy Spirit. When I fall, I get back up. I have to. It's a learning process. It's a humbling process.
This is a big world that God has created with all kinds of people. All kinds of people who have all kinds of needs who serve all kinds of gods who are given all kinds of answers except the one and true ANSWER. I pray that your life and my life will always be an example of faith, and example of love, an example of forgiveness, an example of obediance, an example of a son and daughter of the KING. Enjoy it! Have fun with it! Get with God. He is not far from you. He is not unaware. He is not powerless to help you or to save.
Enjoy the Journey!!
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Posted in The Journey!!!
by Traday Caufield
on 6/11/2008
So here we are back in Costa Rica for a night before catching the bus early in the morning. As we move forward on to the next country, (whether or not I post a blog about it) I always take time to remember the things we did in the previous country.
 These memories are a range of things really...the weather, the people, the ministry, the sunsets and sunrises, the bathroom conditions, the laughter and conversations with my team, the time we take to pray together...anything. I love remembering these things and going back through the scenes of them.  I love to look at the faces of the kids, see them laughing and remembering what triggered these hilarious moments. Life is too short...I can see that as the time is passing by so quickly and the months that I have spent with my team are dwindling to weeks. So we have to make the most of these times, doing our best not to forget them...atleast that's how I feel about it. But you can ask
my team...I usually don't remember things well...details of what's going on when or who's supposed to be doing what. I thank God for these SD memory cards in my camera so that I can keep the photo's. Lord know's I probably wouldn't remember too much of anything.
I love to remember people like my little friend here, Frankilin. There were tendencies in him that clearly showed that he had temper/anger issues, but that didn't stop us. The best way for us to break through to him was to love him anyways. He colored a picture and gave it to me. He sat by me at church. He would sit with me and talk to me the best he could (language barrier) and I would talk to him. He really is a good kid, but he's one of the many kids in the world who needs LOVE and assurance.
 Then the silly memories where we pose and have someone take a picture of us. Goofy times like that are hilarious sometimes. But the memory of us going swimming, the memory of the salt water splashing onto us en-route to an island...and for me, my lips...the salt water making them all chapped and what-not while the wind is beating on them and the sun blasting on them...not a good combo...but I would do it all over again...sho nuff. Yeah, so these are just a few more pictures mainly to show you different scenes of Panama.
And, usually, this is how I will always remember it...one big kool-aid smile and two thumbs up. Sure we go through the tough times, dull times, sorrowful times, but in the end, the things God teaches you through them are phenominal! And in the best of times, God's still teaching us! I love it!Panama was great, the people were great, the culture was different, but hey, that's the way I like it. It get's boring being the same all the time. So God bless ya! Thank you to all who support me financially!!
Enjoy the Journey!!!
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Posted in Thanks!!!
by Tracey Caufield
on 6/10/2008
Back in May, during the Mother's Day holiday, I didn't get to post a blog saying how much I appreciated my mother--Petelia Caufield-- or all of the mothers in my life. But I was blessed to call and talk to some of them.
I want to take the time to write this blog for the Father's Day holiday. I know it's early, but I don't know what I'll be doing when the actual day gets here. I don't know where I'll be. Also, for every spiritual father, thank you for being a part of my life, for depositing nuggets of gold within my spirit, for praying for me and supporting me as your own. Thank you for lifting me up when it seemed I was in the valley of death. I love you all so much and think about you daily!!
So, I was laying in the bed...still am...when I began thinking about how the Father's Day holiday is coming up. Right now it's about 4am. I'm not terribly tired so I want to take the time to thank my dad--L.A. Caufield, Jr--or what I call him--Chalie--and tell him how much I appreciate him.
 So, Chalie, I first want to thank you for your commitment to Mam. I thank you for your heart to give. Thank you for loving me and Gerald and Anthony. Thank you for the wonderful times when it was just me and you going fishing in the Heavy Chevy. I look forward to this when I get home. Thank you for taking me to church with you when I was little. Thank you for sitting up late at night with me putting jigsaw puzzles together. Thank you for helping me get my papers wrote while I was in Bible college. Thank you for every year you cook the turkey and dressing during Thanksgiving. Thank you for blessing me in my endeavors and encouraging me in my dreams. Thank you for remaining calm in situations that needed peace and calm. Thank you for playing basketball with me and catch with the football. Thank you for letting me put rollers in your hair when I was little. Thank you for all the knick names. Thank you for flying the kite with me...that like to killed us both that one day...remember that?!? Thank you for going riding on the bikes with me. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for your sacrifices for me.  Thank you being patient with me and Gerald as kids when we would sneak into the van just before it was time for you to go back to work from your lunch break and you would get mostly to work before you realized we were in there. Thank you for sitting and watching the clouds with me. Thank you for your willingness to help. Thank you for your wisdom. Thank you for the road-trips, ensuring that I knew how to ge to a particular place. Thank you for teaching me how to change a tire, to put oil in the car, put anit-freeze and water in the car, how to properly wash a car. Thank you for the days we spend listening to oldies in the back yard playing dominoes drinking "soda".  Thank you for taking William-Williamson-William-William or rather Wilson (aka The 3rd) for walks and for going out to see what in the world he be barking about late at night.Thank you for going walking with me around town sometimes. Thank you for having faith. Thank you for the memories that are deep within my heart that I have forgotten about and have the opportunity to remember all over again. Thank you for all the times we laughed way, way too hard. Thank you for teaching me about how faithful God is. Thank you for buying us fire crackers for new years and the 4th of July when we were little. Thank you for praying for me whenever I was sick. Thank you for praying for me when my heart was hurting. Thank you for praying for me when things were just fine.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!
I love you so much and will see you in a short while.
Blessings to You!!
Love,
Traday/Beautiful Black Alf/Chalie
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Posted in The Journey!!!
by Tracey Caufield
on 6/9/2008
Alrighty...here's the rest of this amazing journey...
So, here we are on this tiny island that literally takes only a few minutes to walk from one side to the other, that has around 900 people living on it, and that's filled with people who do the same thing day in and day out...fish (for food), take care of their families, look out for one another, do their creative craft works, and live in community that seems to be full of peace and love towards one another. It was hard from the perspective of looking for the outward signs that these people "needed" us. Really, it wasn't us they needed, it was the GOD in us.
 These kids seemed to be well taken care of...living the island life of their culture, and having fun doing it. The things we got to do with these kids were things like, coloring, teaching them, singing songs and doing skits, playing games, taking them swimming on another nearby island, picking them up by the arms and swinging them around, taking photos with/of them, and encouraging them.
But one thing I see everywhere I go is starving children who all are starving for the same thing...first of all, love, then acceptance, attention, affirmation, hugs, laughter, someone to tell them that they do matter and are significant and that their dreams matter and are not impossible.
For the adults of the island, we were priveleged to do things like preach/give testimonies/corporately have some worship time with them on the two Sundays we were there--one Sunday being at the island we lived on and one on the island we got water from. For the parents, us spending time with their kids was a great thing. We were priveledged to go to the island where we got our water from and help rebuild a couple of walls in a church made from bamboo...that was awesome learning how to do that.
Pastor Canto took us to about 3 other islands so that we could encourage and pray for the pastors there. Out of the 3 only 1 was actually on their island...the others were in Panama City and somewhere else that I don't know about. So, those are some of the things we got to do.
By the time we got to our last night of being at the island all the kids knew us well. They would seek us out before day in the morning it seemed and wouldn't go home until 9  or 10pm. They hung around us all the time. They made great effort to learn our names. They were fascinated by our head lamps, our card games, our music, our hair, things that we never really think about. Every place/country I'm reminded of how petty/temporary some things are and at the same time the biggest thing that always seem to stand out is how we need to LOVE! Don't think I'll ever forget this..........LOVE! It's what we're created to do, it's who we're created to be.
Paul writes in Romans: "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law."--Romans 13:8
Be blessed!
Enjoy the Journey!!
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Posted in The Journey!!!
by Traday Caufield
on 6/9/2008
How are things going with ya, Family?!?
I pray all is well with you and your families.
Here's the latest update of what's been going on and happening since I last wrote...
So here we are back in Panama City...it's pouring rain, not quite dark yet, and we're planning to go grab a bite to eat shortly...something you could never do on the islands we were on for the last nine days. To be honest, I missed not being able to just walk to the store...not being able to walk anywhere, except to the other side of the island...
But...it was all good. Being surrounded by the saltiest water of my life, sand, bamboo houses and trashy shorelines was an amazing experience. Why? You'd have to experience it yourself to know why. Nights on this island, if not cloudy and raining, consisted of stars overhead, lightening in the distance and peals of thunder resounding across the skies, vibrating thoughout the narrow 'streets' of this island. Usually it was pitch black and there was always the sound of the waves of water rushing and crashing into the shoreline.
As amazing as all of this was, the people were the funnest thing about this island. At first, for me, it was a little tough. The people seemed quite fearful of us, not trusting of us, not approving of us being there. In my heart, I started out with all kinds of doubts and concerns about being here on this island. It wasn't like we could just up and leave at the drop of a hat. The travel in itself was somewhat treacherous...FUN...and long, plus we had just entered a place that is so tiny with only its race of people. Why should they trust us?
 I mean...look at all these smiles and innocent faces. Anyway, we entered the islands and although the kids seemed apprehensive at first, running away with fear-gripped faces, some bursting into tears as we approached them, some looking at us with the straightest faces that said, "I have a wall that you will not penetrate!", some looking in awe that there were people who looked quite different than them and were somewhat taller than them...despite all of this, they quickly warmed up to us.
We soon found out that things were somewhat expensive: gasoline and water being the main things. Gasoline was $5 a gallon and a gallon of water was said to be somewhere around $2.50-$3. Crazy I know. So a water and toilet paper run was made on the first day and we had somewhere around 8 1-gallon jugs of water to last us until we ran out. A few days later when all the water was gone for the people, Seth and I took a boat ride with a few of the Kuna people to a nearby island for a water run. It was already dark and there were somewhere around 25 5-gallon (more or less) jugs to be filled, plus we had our own 8 1-gallon jugs. So we thought, hey, it shouldn't take long. We were sadly mistaken. It was about 1.5 hours later and super pitch black away from the islands before all these jugs were filled. They used a water hose to fill each jug and the pressure was very low. It took about 6-7 minutes to fill each jug.
This water was used by the people on the island to cook, clean, to wash clothes and dishes, to bathe (if you didn't use the salty waters surrounding the island), to do whatever needed to be done. Three of our team members needed to go back to the mainland (Panama City) after a few days to take care of business and Jeanette left her steripen so that we could sterilize the water. After using it a couple of times, this question rolled around, "Does this steripen really do anything or do they want you to think that it does?" So, not really knowing if this pen was REALLY sterilizing the water, we decided, 'What the heck...let's just go hardcore with this water.' So we just prayed and decided everything would be alright. River water couldn't be all that bad...
 I mean... what could be so bad about this water??? Seriously? The guys told us that it comes from the mountains through some kind of pipe system that leads all the way to the islands so that they could have water. All the floating particles in it wasn't that big of a deal...but we did find it easier to either close our eyes while we drank it or look in some other direction...
For some reason particles floating reminded us of things like: back-wash, parasites, bugs, contaminated water with any contamination that makes the water impure/brown, pee-water...whatever. We tried to think happy thoughts, which worked for the most part. The other bonus was that they sold Coca Colas and other flavored sodas!!! So we managed to survive off of carbonated drinks and river water! Fun times! Gotta love it!!
These are some of the preliminary things that went on while at the same time we were working towards gaining a trust with the people, accomplishing this effort with the kids and adapting to life on a small island of 900 people who spoke either Kuna or Spanish...but mostly Kuna...which is completely different from Spanish.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Kuna Yala Island experience for Team IGNITE...
Much love to you all!!
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Posted in Real Life
by Tracey Caufield
on 5/26/2008
Howdy Family!!!
Well here we are in Panama, after spending a good month in Costa Rica. 
Our journey here has just begun...and really, I'm not sure exactly what all will go on while we're here. I'm not sure what God will do in this place while we are here. And at the same time I'm not worried about it.
Ministry ideas and things set in place are being tossed around and talked about and we're doing them, but the biggest thing is that I want to be doing whatever brings life, whatever brings joy, whatever brings peace, whatever brings change to a situation or circumstance in a person's life...even at the cost of my own will and desire...whether it's the lives of one of my team mates or squad members or my family back home or people here, I want to be available to minister to them in a capacity that brings them to a change in their lives. I want God to use me in a capacity to plant seeds in peoples lives, and whether I see the fruit of it now or not makes no difference to me. Seeds take time to grow, so if in this life I don't see the fruit, it's ok...I will see in the next.
I have found that it's easy to sit back, to always look at how "I" feel or to look at the fact that "I" really don't 'feel' like doing anything. It's so easy to fall into that...atleast for me. The more "American" a place is or seems, the more "American" I feel. And by this I mean that it's easy to fall into the selfish ambition mode...to fall into the "what's in it for me" mode. Now, granted, all Americans are not like this...I know that, but there sure are a lot who are. And it's not just Americans...I'm only speaking of a culture that I'm quite familiar with. The easiest way to find out if you're one of these type of people is if you find in your heart...even now...that you're taking offense at these words...taking offense because you believe i called you selfish.
 Anyway, so tomorrow is Tuesday the 27th of May. Some will be meeting together concerning going to a mens prison to do ministry. And to tell you the truth, I'm still not quite sure exactly what I'll be doing...but that's the beauty of the adventure of the journey.
Today we had a family squad day where we went into town, visited sites like the Panama Canal, we went to the Cause Way, took a lot of taxis, went to the mall, relaxed, hung out, enjoyed one another's company, enjoyed competitions...team against team, shared meals together, went bowling, went to the arcade, did a lot of laughing...some running through the mall, seeing what we could see, acting goofy...which i absolutely love to do. I enjoyed almost every minute of it. And through it all, some of the best memories come from these types of experiences...yes being with one another and enjoying it...but also the moments where you walk around in a foreign place, greet the people in their native tongue and hold a broken English/broken Spanish conversation. For me, these are the best moments. A wonderful lady from Costa Rica named Guiselle told me, while we were still in Costa Rica, that people really take it to heart to see a foreigner come from where they live and try to communicate to them in Spanish the Gospel or what people would deem as small talk on the bus while you're traveling. Actually taking the time to share a piece of your life and time with them are precious moments. So I look forward to the everyday experiences that will go on here and wherever we go.
Chris Rice has a song in which the lyrics say, "Everyday is a journal page. Every man holds a quill and ink. And there's plenty of room for writing in all we do and believe and think. So will you compose a curse or will today bring you blessing? Fill the page with a rhyming verse or some random sketching? Teach us to count the days. Teach us to make the days count. Lead us in better ways. Somehow our soul has forgot. Life means so much. Life means so much. Life means so much. Everyday is a bank account and time is our currency. So, no one's rich, nobody's poor. We get twenty-four hours each. So how are you going to spend? Will you invest or squander? Try to get ahead or help someone who's under? Teach us to count the days. Teach us to make the days count. Lead us in better ways. Somehow our soul has forgot. Life means so much. Life means so much. Life means so much."
Yeah, life means so much! I see it everyday being on this race. It becomes clearer and clearer the more time you spend in a place where people are sitting and begging in the streets, when you see them calling out to you begging for food, when you see them with the look of dispair and a hard life on their face, and when you see their faces light up with hope because someone took the time to just sit and talk with them... Ministry opportunities are anywhere and everywhere you have people.
So here we go!
Blessings to you all!!
Enjoy the Journey!!!
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Posted in Real Life
by Tracey Caufield
on 5/8/2008
What´s going on Family?!?
I do pray all is well with you all!! It´s been a joy getting to talk to some of you by phone!!!
Well...just wanted to share a bit what I´ve been learning while being here on the race and being here in Costa Rica.
Everyone knows about cause and effect....
You stick your hand over a fire, you´ll get burned...
You eat nothing but sweets your whole life and never brush your teeth, you´ll get cavities...
You just live life on this earth, you´ll experience ups and downs, mountains and valleys, joy and sadness, etc. It rains on the just and the unjust alike.
But one thing I´ve learned...even before this race was that what we do in the natural realm affects the spiritual realm and what we do in the spiritual realm affects the natural realm. Although I knew this...more and more the Lord is opening my eyes to see the reality of these affects working within us as a team and squad and working within humanity.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:12 that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
And in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 he says, "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds."
I´m not really talking about spiritual warfare...although these scriptures could be totally applicable, but I´m talking about the fact that we are taking part and being involved in two realms at once. And of course it´s the spiritual and the natural realms.
As Christians, we decide everyday if we want to walk in joy or if we want to be angry. We decide if we do or do not want to forgive, we decide if we want to show someone hospitality or give them the cold shoulder, we decide if we want to listen to the Spirit of God or the lies of satan. WE either choose life or death. And as this world is passing away, and as God has been showing me these things at a deeper level than what I thought I knew, it has become obvious to me that I have not always been quick to choose LIFE. It was much easier for me to choose the LIE.
So, I am left with 2 decisions...to choose the way of the worldly and dark realm...the natural realm OR I can choose the way of God, the way of light, the way of truth, the way of LIFE.
God told the Israelites in Deut. 30 concerning His word that what He was commanding them was not too difficult or beyond their reach. It was not up in heaven so they would have to ask who would ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to them so that they could obey it. That it wasn´t beyond the sea so that they would have to ask who would cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to them so that they may obey it. He said that the word was very near them...in their mouths and in their hearts so that they could obey it.
This day God layed before them life and prosperity, death and destruction.
"For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess" Deut. 30:16.
This was God´s command to them and at the same time He left them the option to choose. The next couple of verses tell us that if they chose not to do what He commanded that they would be cut off from all that God had in store for them. If you don´t choose life, you choose death. God is Eternal Life. Outside of Him, what, really, is life? It´s chaos, far from fulfilling, deceiving, and empty. I´ve seen that in the people I´ve come across while in Africa and here in Costa Rica. And at periods in my life, I´ve lived my life in the trap of the lie. I didn´t know what LIFE was.
So here we are IN the world. Here we are with influences all around us...worldly influences, spiritual influences. What will we choose? Deuteronomy 30 ends with these two verses: "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord you God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and He will give you many years in the land he swore to give your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
The choice is ours. Life or Death. Blessings or Cursings. Whatever we choose, God will stay true to His promise. It´s a sobering thought...the justice and righteousness of God. As for me, I choose life NOW!!.
Much love to you all!!!
Enjoy the Journey!!!
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