Touching Down

I am in the States for a few days on the way back from Puerto Rico, visiting my family for a bit before heading back to London and the winter internship. I had the opportunity to speak at my parents' church in Savannah this morning and to meet some of the people who have been praying for and supporting me for the past few years. It is always a blessing for me to remember that there are people around the world who pray for my team and for me, and we have certainly seen the power of those prayers in different situations in the past years.

For the last week of our time in Puerto Rico, we had a pre-Sanse (Fiesta de la Calles de San Sebastian, or the street party on the streets around San Sebastian in San Juan's Old Town) camp with Christians from the area, and then we all went to Sanse. We got to participate in the parade before we set ourselves up on the Plaza of San Jose, where we did drumming, dances, stilts, fire pois, fire breathing, and live painting. All of this drew a crowd to whom we got to speak about Jesus.

One of my favourite parts of the festival was seeing the way the Puerto Ricans came to parties with their musical instruments. They brought drums, guiros, and one guy even brought a trumpet. He played the trumpet one-handed so that he could hold his beer in his other hand. They joined in the music and dancing wherever they were, and more often than not, they started speaking to me before I spoke to them! They even waded through my Spanish with me in order to talk to me, and I got to know a lot about their lives and the beautiful island on which they live.

Now I am with my family, and it is odd to open my mouth and to not have people look at me. I understand what signs say, and I can buy my favourite foods at the grocery store. And while I love being home, I also look forward to returning to London and to the winter internship. It is good to live the unconventional life that God called me to, in a house with people of sixteen nations and nearly as many art styles, and to serve God together.

For everyone who is just joining this journey, there are a few links that may help you out. The first one is here, a step-by-step guide to supporting me on Paypal. The second is my email address, which is deborahestevenson@gmail.com. If you are looking for the Facebook of my team, you can find it by typing in "Londons Arts" (be careful to get the "s" on "London!")

open eyes, open hands

Today marks three weeks of being in Puerto Rico, of traveling the island in our four-van caravan, of visiting churches, schools, rehabilitation centers, public parks and squares, and even the beach and the rain forest!

One of the things that God has been teaching me while I have been here is to open my eyes to see the beautiful things that He is putting in each of my days. We are on outreach, which means that we are prepared to give up the comforts of our lives in London. However, the people of Puerto Rico have such generous hearts that they keep taking care of us in unexpected ways, whether it is through donations of clothing and flip flops or through feeding all thirty of us the traditional Puerto Rican meal of chicken or pork, rice, and beans. 

Puerto Ricans also love to get to know new people. Even as I was just in the queue at Starbucks, a man read the name on my cup and starting asking what I was doing and telling me about his life as a chef on the other side of the island. Evangelism is much different than it is in London, because people love to stop and chat for a while, and we leave with new friends. When we spent a week at a church in Caguas, a city near San Juan, the people of the church all came around to check on us and make sure that we had everything that we needed. The women all wanted the chance to cook for us, and they were upset when they didn't have a turn!

This is a culture of extremes, and while a lot of the people here go to church on Sundays, they often do not carry that into their weekday lives. It is heavy on our hearts to inspire the people of Puerto Rico to commit to Christ, to fall in love with Him and to pursue Him with their lives, rather than to go to church on Sunday and live the rest of their weeks in their own ways. Puerto Ricans have passion and perseverance that we desperately need in this battle that we fight to bring God's Kingdom to Earth. I believe that, as God stirs more of their hearts, and as we pray for them to commit their lives to Him and what He calls them to, we will see more Puerto Ricans being sent to bring nations back to the feet of the King.

There is only one more day left in 2015, and I am so glad that I will get to spend it here, looking back on the miracles that God has done, on the places that He has led our team to visit, on the ways that He has provided unexpectedly, and on the challenges that He has led us through. And I look forward to spending 2016 doing the same: meeting new people, traveling to different places, and following God.

 The musicians and drummers singing worship songs on the streets of Bayamon.

 Luis, a man that I spoke to for a long time in Bayamon. He sees evidence of God in creation and captures it in words.

A little girl in a school in Caguas who didn't want to dance, but was keen to learn photography instead.

 Christian speaking at a church in Carolina.

 The dancers and musicians at a Christmas festival in Cayey.

 The ferry from Culebra, an island off the coast of Puerto Rico.

Old San Juan