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!")