Change is a good thing and this is a great day for change. This will also be the last time I post anything new to this blog. If you have not already heard the news, Brian and I will be squad leading the World Race August '09 K Squad. We are now officially on staff and with this new chapter in our lives comes a new blog. This blog (stacyalonzo.theworldrace.org) will still remain active, however we will now both be posting together on the same blog located at.. wait for it...
If you are a current subscriber to this blog, don't worry. You wont have to change a thing. Your current subscription will automatically be moved over to the new blog so you can still receive all of our updates in this new and exciting chapter of The World Race we are moving into. While we are very excited about this new staff position, there is still very much a financial need. As full time World Race staff we are still relying on the support raised for this ministry. We will be back on the field again in less than a month training and equipping this new group of racers, and upon return in 4 months will remain on staff with World Race as support from the States. Please keep us in your prayers as we are now seeking long term supporters to partner with us as we step into full time ministry. Thanks and God Bless!
Posted in 02 Guatemala by Stacy Alonzo on 7/8/2009
Antigua, Guatemala – We
had our first (and only) race to this gem of a city for our first
debrief. The race and its aftermath
allowed topics that had been building to surface within our small team. We began to move past the "honeymoon phase"
and tackle issues such as roles, expectations, communication, and unity.
Lake Atitlan,
Guatemala – We were blessed to stay in a beautiful house in Panajachel. This month was a long month of both serving
alongside established contacts and pioneering new ones. We found ourselves doing a plethora of things
throughout the month such as kids programs, house visitations, dramas, teachings
in a coffee shop, physical labor alongside the Global Challenge Team and a lot of relationship
building. The small team was
particularly challenging for me this month, as we tried to figure out what
community living should look like among 3 married couples who didn't
necessarily have a lot in common or blend very well personality wise. I learned a lot about choosing to love and
seeing people through God's eyes instead of my limited perspective. This was also a month of physically feeling
under the weather quite a bit. However,
the lake and it's surrounding villages and people were absolutely
beautiful. And, I was even blessed with birthday money which allowed me to go paragliding and enabled Brian and I to go out on a few dates. :)
This is the first of 12 blogs that will take you back through each month of my World Race journey to date through words, pictures, and video that Brian and I have not had a chance to share yet.
Palenque, Mexico –
With excitement, we received our launch training by Jimmy, Ashley, Seth, and Karen at Shekinah,a training school for pastors, run by a couple with incredible
faith, Eleazar and Marta. We also had an opportunity to see the Mayan ruins and Agua Azul in
our downtime.
Trinidad (formerly Aguilar), Mexico
- We worked alongside Pastor Adelina
in her church doing children's programs, dramas, worship, and preaching. The value of "being"
versus "doing" was reiterated over and over, as during the day when we were not at the church, we did not really have many tasks to do. Brian and I continued
to learn the delicate balance of leading and following as it relates to both
marriage and team dynamics. I learned
just how far simply listening to and loving on people can go and the importance
of building relationships with others regardless of how long (or short) of a
time you have to spend with them...love's impact is enduring.
We have done our best to send postcards and thank you notes to all of our supporters over the course of the year. However, for any of our supporters whom we were not able to send an actual postcard or handwritten note to - anonymous donors, supporters who are not Stateside, and anybody whom we do not have a physical addresses for - we wanted you to receive our thank you as well. So, please consider this a special delivery of what we wished we could have sent directly to your mailbox at home...a big, heartfelt thank you to you all! This year would not have been possible without you!!!
In
an effort to keep our marriage healthy while out on the race, we made the
decision before the race to try to continue to have our "date nights"
just as we did while in the States.Knowing that it might be difficult to have a date on a weekly basis out
on the race, we determined that at the very least we would spend the last night
in each country on a date.We thought it
would be fun to, instead of buying souvenirs with our personal spending money
each month, buy an authentic outfit from each country to wear out on our
monthly dates.This is a collection of
pics of our outfits/dates from throughout the year.
Mexico-
We had a delicious breakfast at the Mexico City Embassy Suites, courtesy of a
free voucher we had leftover from a stay in the States on our anniversary the
year before.
Guatemala - We had a nice dinner at El Patio
and enjoyed walking around Panajachel the rest of the evening.
Vietnam - We dined at The Black Cat
Cambodia - We had a progressive style
dinner...cocktails, appetizers, main course, and dessert all at different
places.Then we walked around the night
market.
Thailand - We decided to buy pajamas as our
outfit for Thailand and have a date night in the comfort of
"home."We ordered pizza and
watched a movie on our laptop.
England - We had a few days off between
Christmas and New Years, so we had a couple date days and spent them touring
the sites of London.Since England was
an unexpected stop on the race, we had no winter clothing with us.So, we didn't buy any traditional outfits
here, as we spent our personal spending money for the month on buying jackets,
scarves, hats, etc. to keep warm.
Mozambique - These are actually clothes that we
received as gifts from the people at the church we worked with in
Mozambique...can't get more authentic than that.There wasn't a place for us to go out to on our date since we were in
the Bush, so we had a delicious dinner made by our contact, Jonathan, complete
with grass mats and citronella candles on the front porch of Jurie's
farmhouse.
Swaziland - Unfortunately we thought we would
be coming back to Swazi after being there for the Vision Trip.Plans changed and we did not have the
pleasure of returning, so we never had a chance to have our date in this beautiful
country.
3 Year Anniversary Date - South Africa - We
were able to get away to a nice part of Johannesburg for the night, walk around
Nelson Mandela Square, and have a fancy dinner out at Bull Run to celebrate our
anniversary.
South Africa - We enjoyed the food so much at
Bull Run that for our traditional date night in South Africa, we went back,
only this time we wore our South African garb.
Romania - Our date was taking a walk down to
the local magazine (store) for some ice cream, Gypsy style.
Moldova - We did not have a chance to find any
traditional outfits here, nor did we have the time to go on a date.
Ukraine - We opted to spend our personal
spending money for the month on a nice outfit for our end of the year banquet
with our squad instead of buying traditional Ukrainian clothing. This is us at the banquet with the other two married couples who made up our small team this year.
If you've read Brian's latest blog, you know that we will be going back out on the field as squad leaders for the next World Race squad that leaves in August (Team 2). I wanted to take a minute to introduce you to the amazing group of men and women that we will be serving alongside. We had the privilege of being with them during their training last month and the following pictures were taken during their commissioning service the last night of training. Enjoy!
Being back Stateside these past few weeks has been a wonderful but crazy whirlwind for Brian and I as we've been visiting family and friends. We've had a chance to catch up with many of our loved ones and were able to make it to my dad's remarriage, my sister's wedding, and my sister-in-law's birthday, but we still have many people we'd love to see. For the next few weeks, however, we're taking some time away to just be the two of us again. As we recharge, reconnect, and reflect, we'll be posting those videos and pictures from this year that we promised to share, so stay tuned. In the meantime, here are a few pics of some of the celebrations and visits these past few weeks.
We are now back in the States and are currently in Charleston,
SC. We are only here 10 days visiting with family and trying to see as
many friends and supporters as possible in the short time that we have
here. There are so many stories, pictures, and videos from the year
that we want to share with you and have not had a chance to post, so
over the next several weeks we will begin sharing these with you,
focusing on one country each week. We want to give a HUGE thank you to
all of our supporters. This year would not have been possible without
your prayers and support. As the Lord continues revealing what is next
for us we will keep everyone posted. In the meantime, here is a video
made by Lindsay Stahl (one of our squad mates). It's a great summary
of the year and some of the people we met that touched our lives.
Thanks to all of your prayers and financial support, we will NOThave to leave the WR prematurely due to lack of funds in our support account.In just one month, $5600 in pledges and donations were made. If there was ever a question as to whether or not we are still supposed to be out here, we definitely have our answer. What an amazing answer to prayer and testament to God's provision!
Our physical costs (transportation, housing etc.) up to March 1st are now fully raised, but westill need your help. While the rest of our team is heading into Malawi and Swazi for more ministry, AIM has asked us to stay put in Nelspruit just a little longer to continue to support raise until we have met the physical costs to cover the last 3 months. This amount is $3000. After already being away from ministry for a month, we are really itching to get back on the field and serve. As soon as the $3000 comes in, we can jump back into outreach. To contribute to our support account please click on the "Support Me" link on the left.
Again, we cannot thank you enough for the blessing that you have been through all of your prayers, encouragement, and monetary gifts. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!