SOME PEOPLE CALLED ME CRAZY AND i JUST NODDED IN AGREEMENT

Ya know, I was remembering back to when I first started telling people about the call to be a missionary in South America God had laid on my heart.  I remembered the first question was where and the next was why, and more than a few times people would look at me and say, "That is crazy."  I would just nod and think in my head that they were so right!  I thought it was crazy, but if God had a plan for me and my family we have always said we are available.  I tell you what though, If you take the step in faith, God is faithful.  We agreed to go to Colombia site unseen.  My biggest fear wasn't if we would like Colombia, but it was "would the people I work closest with like me?"  I must say I struggled with that fear until last week.  Andrew and I were joined by Dan and Bonnie Schwartz as we had the opportunity to go down to Santa Marta and Riohacha, Colombia and join a mission team from Forest Hill Church in North Carolina that had organized a mission trip to Riohacha through our organization South America Mission.  I was able to meet some great people. Jon, Jeff and Abe, I wish I was working with you all right now.  

After we arrived in Riohacha we met the Mejia family.  They started the church we will be working with.  They are a great family full of love.  They had about 17 of us living with them all week and about 22 of us eating great food at their house for breakfast, lunch and dinner. On Sunday we went to church and Kenny Krestan gave the message on "the Church".  It was a great service.  Afterwards we had lunch at a mall and we went to a store afterwards and saw a soccer game was playing on the T.V. displays and there was about 30 - 40 people standing\sitting\laying in the store watching the game.  It was great!  I went over with a couple other people and joined in the fun. We talked with a young lady and invited her to one of our services and she said she would be there.  I could do this every Sunday!  I got tagged in a post thanking us for talking with her.  It made my day.
The next day we started working on the church building and in the afternoon we went door to door in small groups consisting of a couple "Gringos", a translator and a member of the church.  What an amazing experience!  The Holy Spirit is at work in Riohacha.  It reminds me of Matthew 9:37 - 38 37Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38"Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." There were reports of people coming to Christ, others had questions.  Every time we met with someone we prayed with them for any needs they had before we left. How awesome!  The names of those who dedicated their lives were given to the church for follow up as were the prayer requests. We also visited a school and gave the kids an English test, played some games and left after singing a little praise to God.  It was an incredible week.
The Lord put me at ease and took away any concerns I had about moving to Riohacha.  Now my family and I are getting the house ready for its new family and we are anxiously awaiting His provision to get us through language school and moved into our place in Riohacha.  We still need people to partner with us financially.  We need about $1500.00 more in monthly commitments.  Please pray and if you would like to partner with us you can goto http://www.southamericamission.org/downloads/SAMdirect.pdf and print, fill out the form and send it in.  Please let us know if you are going to make a commitment by sending us a quick e-mail to cchaylett@southamericamission.org. If you would like to make an online donation just goto  http://www.southamericamission.org/ and click donate, then select us from the drop down and follow the instructions.  Please pray for us as we prepare to hit the road raising funds and saying good bye to family.