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Posted in Support
by Isabel Maldonado
on 8/20/2008
I received an email from the AIM office today explaining my support raising situation. I actually have a negative balance of $1650 in my support account and I will not be able to leave for Africa unless that situation changes. I am only 2 weeks away from leader training in Georgia and less than a month before I am to leave the country. So I am asking you to help me in one of these ways. 1. Pray that my finances will come in swiftly 2. If you have been thinking about supporting me but haven't had the chance, now is the time I need it most! 3. If you are able to support me on a monthly basis either by prayer or finances, please let me know. I understand that this may be a difficult time for some of you as school is beginning and our economy isn't exactly in the best shape, but I KNOW that this is where the Lord has me for this next year. All the doors have been opened and I am stepping through them, but I cannot do it without you. Please, Please pray about this and partnering with me this next year. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me (contact me link to the left). You can call or email anytime. I am filled with thanks to the Father as you help supply my needs and make this ministry possible.
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Posted in General Articles
by Isabel Maldonado
on 8/16/2008
Growing up I found myself doing a lot of hiding, hiding from the switch that would be chasing my rear end, hiding from the fighting that went on in my house, hiding from pain and hiding from reality. I don't think it was until I reached high school and got involved with church that those things hiding in the dark began coming out into the light. But for many years I still held on to most of my hurts and wounds, not allowing any one access to those areas of my heart. My senior year of high school and on into my freshman year of college I was dealing with a lot of issues. I had been wounded so deeply that I didn't want to open up those areas of my life to anyone else for fear that I would only be wounded more deeply.
I began attending a more spirit led church and had amazing friends and older women who were willing to take me to the next level of my relationship and we began dealing with some of my past wounds. I was still very cautious as to whom I opened up to, but after a few years I felt comfortable with those that had been on this spiritual journey much longer than I and began opening up more. In 2005 I was introduced to AIM. At first I was hesitant. I mean, coming together to meet a group students and leaders I had only met through email wasn't an ideal situation. Was I willing to do what God had called me to do and allow these people to speak truth into my life? I allowed myself to be real and to open up to my leaders, after all, what did I have to lose? What would one more arrow mean if it didn't work out? By the end of the summer I was to move to Georgia with my team leaders.
My Kosovo leaders and amazing friends
Many back home didn't understand why I would just up and leave. I had only finished 2 years of school, had everything planned out for my life and it just didn't make any sense for me to up and leave. For a year I lived in Georgia surrounded by an amazing community of missions minded Christians. They allowed me room to be real, to by myself and to make mistakes. I was discipled, challenged and rebuked. During that time I learned what grace looked like, how to be open and vulnerable, allowing people to know what was going on in my life and helping me grow in those areas, and that life isn't always going to be full of sunshine and rainbows. The next year of my life was to be spent in New Zealand, living as a missionary, being discipled on the field as well as discipling others. Upon my return I had people ask, "What happened to the old Isabel? Where did she go? What happened while you were in New Zealand? You aren't the person you were when you left!" God had changed me! I was now able to move past all those arrows that had been shot at me and bring healing to others that have gone through many of the same situations. I went on to co-lead a team to Swaziland that summer.
FYM New Zealand 06-07; my community and church for a year
I spent 2 years living in community with people with a heart for missions and willing to go deeper with me, pushing me beyond my limits and allowing me to see the potential I wasn't living up to by holding onto my past. I was terrified of returning back to Abilene, to the college life, to making new friends and to people that thought I had up and left without consulting God before making such a drastic decision. I knew that God had changed my heart, but were others around me going to be able to notice that change?
It was a rocky time for me. For the first few months I wanted to hide under a rock, or my room, and only come out for class. I allowed myself to somewhat go back to my former ways because that is where I found myself most comfortable. There was a struggle inside. I knew that God had more for me, but I wasn't allowing those things to take place. I spent most of my time in the theology building taking all my Bible classes feeling as though I were a phony. I knew all the church answers, after all, I'm a missions major. I'm supposed to know these things. But my heart was grieving. I wanted more than church answers. I longed for the community that I left. I wanted relationships with others that understood what it was I was going through. And all this time I felt like God was no where around. I wasn't finding Him at school, I wasn't finding Him at church and I wasn't finding Him at home either. I felt like an alien everywhere I went.
Those I had opened up to just a few years ago spoke to me mostly in passing. What happened? I thought that church was a place to go to for healing and understanding but instead I felt condemnation and confusion. I know my life isn't perfect but is it supposed to be held against me? For sure I thought I could run to church for protection. And yet I didn't find it there. All the while God was beside me, wanting me to run to His Church. Not a building, but rather those He has placed in my life that are willing to go deeper with me, challenge me and push me. When I do call they ask why it has been so long. The enemy wants me to believe that they were in my life only for that season and don't want anything else to doSo much of me wants to stay the closed up hermit I was just a few years ago, but God continues to pull me out, moving me from one home to the next, showing me glimpses of His church and allowing me to be a part of it all.
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Posted in General Articles
by Isabel Maldonado
on 7/29/2008
All weekend I have been driving around in my little air conditioned car listening to my Ipod through the stereo and focused on my destination, or should I say destinations. It has been a busy weekend, attending a brother's wedding, meeting someone I'm heading to Africa with, and catching up with other friends that live in the area. To me Dallas/Ft Worth is just that, an area. I was determined to see any of my friends that lived in the area. Luckily it all worked out pretty well in that I didn't have to drive across the metroplex (a conglomoration of cities where you can't tell where one ends and another begins) each time.
Then as I was heading to an appointment Monday morning it hit me. I'm going to Africa soon. My world is about to change drastically, if even for a year. The freedoms I have been used to won't be there. I'm not going to be going out alone, ever, driving will most definitely be limited, our fast foods, drive throughs and the like aren't going to be there. And I'm okay with that. Maybe slowing life down a bit will be good for me.
The kids found out that when they rubbed the balloons in my hair it stuck to them...
How do I not fall in love with these precious children?
If there is a such thing as pre-culture shock, I think I might have it. Sure I've been to Africa, twice now. But I'm going to live there for a year. It's not that I'm struggling with being away from home or scared that I'm going to be in a different country, been there, done that. But this is the country that I have tried to get to many times before. This is the country that I have tried twice to stay for 9 months. This is the country I AM IN LOVE WITH. And I am finally going...for a year! It's a lot for my little mind to take in. The long anticipated moment of me going to Africa was well worth the wait. God has used the previous years when I wasn't ready, to prepare me for this moment. For such a time as this. And I'm excited and nervous and scared all at that same time. Each day that passes by is a day closer till I'm home (although Texas will always be "Home"). But for now I continue living for the day, obeying, or trying to obey, those things God has called me to for that moment.
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Posted in General Articles
by Isabel Maldonado
on 7/28/2008
I love my spiritual father! Last night I sent an email updating him on my life and how I still hadn't told my dad that I am going to Africa for a year. My dad isn't always the supportive type and when it comes to leaving country, especially for long periods of time, it is a wast of my life. I have been dreading this call/conversation with my dad for a long time, since I have known about going to South Africa. Instead of getting it over with, I continually came up with excuses as to why I couldn't call him or tell him on that particular occasion. And this was the response I got back from Gary. "Go tell your dad! You are a women of God with authority and life... go be obedient and honor your dad by obeying God... come on girl... love you!"
He's my spiritual father...I can't not listen to him. So as I was driving to my sister's house, I decided I would call my dad. After all, I am leaving Texas in a few weeks, meaning I won't be seeing him for a year. I called him and our phone conversations usually end after 1 minute 42 seconds, this one however lasted almost 8 minutes, a record for me. Surprisingly our conversation started in such a way that I didn't have to force this Africa topic out. He asked about school and I told him how the next year would look for me. He didn't get angry, or tell me that I needed to stay close to home, or that I needed to stop wasting my life. Instead, he only asked when I was leaving and when I would be returning. Once I hung my phone up I was in shock. Did our conversation actually go that smoothly? I was giddy with joy. The Lord was all over our conversation! I had done all this worrying for no reason at all!
I called Gary soon after speaking to my dad to tell him how amazingly easy it was and how he didn't react the way I had prepared myself for. Gary said, "You should listen to your spiritual father more often...he knows what's up in this world. You were given authority and with that things are never as we think them to be." I couldn't stop telling my friends and family how God surprised me today...needless to say, I am still overjoyed! Praise the Lord for He is good!
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Posted in General Articles
by Isabel Maldonado
on 7/24/2008
I work at a nursing home and so this morning at work I was helping a resident get ready for the day. This resident is well into her 80s and as I sat there watching her routine, my heart ached for her. To be constantly worrying about what you look like, trying to "put your face on" and covering your beautiful hair with a ridiculous wig...Something had to happen along her journey and she believes that she is only beautiful hiding her true self. Her makeup from the day before is still caked on and she puts more on for the new day. The brightest red lipstick is applied and later used on her cheeks as blush, then mascara goes on to bring out what eyelashes she has and give herself more eyebrows. And then she covers her long gray hair with a wig that even she doesn't like. Why go through this same routine day after day for years upon end? Maybe I don't fully understand because I have never felt obligated to wear makeup. It wasn't until I got into college I began wearing it on a semi-regular basis and even now wear it few and far between!
I have had my struggles with identity and even in my early twenties I wish that I would have dealt with my identity issues before college. But to be near the end of my life and still unsure of who I am and who God has created me to be, I couldn't imagine! I praise the Lord for the people He has placed in my life along the way to encourage me in finding me and to step out from behind that mask.
While I was in Swaziland in June, we spent a day with some of the children there with the idea of helping them find who they are in Christ. Many of these children have very little, if anything, they can call their own. This vision of "I Am" boxes came from Lisa Black.
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Posted in General Articles
by Isabel Maldonado
on 7/22/2008
I have found myself stuck in this place and haven't figured a way out. It's not a bad place, just a place I don't want to focus on in the process of leaving country again...support raising. I have been raising support to leave on various mission trips since 2004. God has been faithful in so many ways and I have been blown away at the ways the support has come in, many times at the last moment. But here I am again, preparing to leave for Africa for close to a year. My support account is looking kind of bare these days and I'll be in Africa in less than 2 months! I feel like I have done a lot of what has been communicated to us in this whole process, newsletters, calls, house visits, coffee shop visits, and still feel like I haven't gotten very far.
Is there something I am doing wrong? Are my supporters getting worn out from me continuously asking for financial support to leave country again? Is there a better way I could be communicating and stressing the importance of supporters? Am I being unfaithful in an area of my life that is causing the support to not be there? Is this really where I am supposed to be? And if I am having such a hard time raising support now for shorter trips, is it going to be just as hard if not harder when I am a full time missionary living on the field? These are all questions that run through my head on a frequent basis. And then I have to remind myself that I am exactly where God wants me right now. He has never failed me. The support has always come in.
So what do I do? I can't give up, I can only press forward and trust that God is going to provide just like every other time. I can't pick the things I want to trust God for. I can't trust that this is where He wants me to be without trusting that He is going to provide the way for me to get there. I have to hold to the truth that He is faithful in every situation.
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Posted in General Articles
by Isabel Maldonado
on 7/19/2008
I used to think of summer as a time of rest and relaxation, a time where I can forget all my worries and go-with-the-flow. But somewhere in time that changed. I began filling up my summer days with anything and everything because I always had to be doing something. It was never okay for me to sit and rest in God. Last summer I learned the importance of rest the hard way. After spending nine-months in New Zealand ministering, I returned back to the States, had about 2 weeks rest visiting my family and supporters then I was off to Georgia again to help with the training camps. By no means was I forced to help send out other missionaries, but it was something I enjoyed doing and felt like I could be used best that way. The time came and my Ambassador team finally arrived. It was then I realized that I probably should have taken more time to rest.
After an intense week at training camp, getting to know each other on the team and doing many team builders, we were heading off to Swaziland. Our time there started off a little slow, but ministry was upon us everywhere. My problem was that I was so exhausted I had nothing to pour out to the students on my team. Waking up in the morning became a time I dreaded (more than usual) and overall, I felt like I had let my team down. I hadn't spent the time needed resting in the Lord to pour back out. I got sick halfway through the trip which didn't make things easier. I lost my voice and was quite miserable. The trip ended and we were back to Atlanta for debrief. I was getting sicker and all I wanted to do was sleep. I didn't want to talk about the good and the bad from the trip. I wanted medicine...
So here I am again, preparing to lead another group of students back to Africa. Even thought I didn't just return from nine months on the field and a summer of training camp in the Georgia heat, I have still found it difficult to rest in the Lord. There is always something that needs to be done, something more that needs my attention at this moment. If I am not at work then I am getting things together for my visa and trying to pack my life up in boxes again. The whole process can be quite overwhelming. This past week I was more or less forced to rest. I went to the metroplex with only my car, no computer, clothes or phone charger. I ended up having to stay there for 4 days. All I could do was rest. What a blessing.
Now that I am back in Abilene, life has to continue forward. I still have to be out of my apartment in three weeks and haven't packed a thing. If you saw my room you would be very concerned for me. I have to continue working until I can no longer live in Abilene and then I'm off to visit supporters, family and friends before leaving life on hold in America once again. THis is doable indeed, but can be overwhelming unless I continue to lean on the Lord and rely on Him for my strength.
Relaxing with my New Zealand First Year Missionary team
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Posted in General Articles
by Isabel Maldonado
on 7/13/2008
After work Friday morning I ran home, packed for the weekend and had my roommate drive me to the airport. I was heading to North Webster, Indiana for a reunion with my FYM New Zealand team. I wasn’t really sure what the weekend would look like. We hadn’t seen each other in over a year and even after spending nine months with each other, our lives have gone in different directions since being back in America. While at training camp in Georgia, we labeled ourselves as “THAT team” and so did others. Who knew what the Lord had in store for us over the next few years. Good or bad, our team survived many changes and transitions and each brought something different back home.
Upon coming home, many of us returned to our universities, some returned to their jobs, others got new ones and some went in totally different directions. We are all here this weekend with the exception of two, one is in Indonesia with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). The thing about him though is that he was the last one any of us thought would return to the mission field. The other was the youngest on our team and probably the last we thought would marry, and now she is preparing to get married this fall. It has been interesting returning as a team. We have laughed together, shared pictures and relived memories from our time in New Zealand. Finally people we are able to share our thoughts with, finally people know what it is I am talking about, finally I am surrounded by friends who understand the changes I endured while I was away, finally friends that don’t tell me to shut up after telling yet another story of my time in New Zealand. Finally.
We have spent the weekend watching the ducks swim by, chasing the ducks, playing on the lake, whether by playing water badminton, floating on tubes, using the paddle boat to explore the small islands or playing mad-libs while the rain falls outside the window or using flarp to make others think we are farting. This is my team. We are still “That team.” To me they are the ones that have been there, seeing me for who I really am, allowing me to laugh and not make fun of my laugh, encouraging me in my realization of what the Lord wants for me. By no means were we the perfect team, but we were a family none the less and we come together like we just saw each other yesterday.
Now I sit watching the North Webster ferry float past the lakeside cabin we have invaded for such brief moments of a chance of the community we left at the Atlanta airport just 14 months ago. The thing though, is my life is going to be full of these moments. These trips aren’t merely trips. They aren’t just adventures. They are my life. I am a missionary. Like it or not, I am going to have people coming and going in my life recurrently. I will be opening up and pouring out to people continually. As my coworkers have noticed, “You don’t ever stay put, you just keep going.” My life isn’t in Texas alone. My life is spread amongst all the people that have touched my life and have been touched by mine. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.
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Posted in General Articles
by Isabel Maldonado
on 7/8/2008
I recently ended things with my boyfriend of 7 months. It was difficult on many levels. I knew it wasn't a relationship the Lord wanted me to be in, yet I pursued it anyway. I consumed my time with him too. I was happy living this life of having someone near me constantly. We shared the same friends, had many of the same interests and school activities, and yet that wasn't enough for our relationship. God has given me dreams and desires. I am going to live in Africa and minister there. I am going to raise my family on the "mission field" and am very excited about it. I know that this wasn't an interest he shared with me. I guess I knew from the beginning that things weren't really going to work out, but it was comfortable being in that place with him. I returned from Swaziland and the Lord was telling me that it was time to end it. He was wanting to take me to a place of renewal and refreshing before leading a group of students in South Africa for 9 months. I've been there before. Relationships can be a hinderance to the family unit that is our team. Even though he would be here, a lot of my time and would be consumed with thinking about the next time I could talk to him or send him an email. So back to what the Lord has been telling me. The time that I spent with this guy I could be spending with Him, going deeper into an intimate relationship. It was a mutual decision. We ended things and I didn't think it would be that difficult. I still see him around and every time I do my heart breaks again. I had created a bond between us that is still very much there. I had to leave tonight so I wouldn't make mistakes I would regret later. It was difficult. As I walked away crying I was so mad at myself. Why do I continually place myself in these situations? Wouldn't it be easier to avoid relationships all together? Or what would happen if we got back together until I left for South Africa. I turned to my good friend and was expressing my current dilemma. Then she spoke words I knew to be true, just needed a reminding of them tonight.
It is natural to love. God has ingrained in us to be people of relationships, who love and care for one another. Returning to a situation God has already told me to get out of would only cause harm to the work he is doing in me to prepare me for this time of leadership that is ahead of me. He is taking me through a process of refining through fire and even though it is a painful process and not at all pleasant, the end result will be something precious and amazing! Those words weren't all that precious to hear, but they were words of encouragement none the less. Will this process ever get easier? Probably not. I think that once one area has been refined and been made precious He will only take me back through the fire again.
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Posted in Swaziland
by Isabel Maldonado
on 7/7/2008
From Seth Barnes:
 While the orphan and AIDS statistics in Swaziland are beyond tragic, it affords those of us who follow Jesus an opportunity.
We've been starting up the Nsoko Project, an orphan village we've been dreaming of for awhile now. We currently have a college-age team on the ground, and they're seeing Jesus in a new light that is both heart-breaking and inspiring. Here is what they're experiencing:
There are two carepoints that we go to, where we play with the children and do VBS with them. The children who are at the carepoints all day do not go to school because they cannot afford it. They go to the carepoints to be fed, as do others from the community. Most of the children just want to be held and usually fall asleep to a comfort and warmth they have never felt before...
The other ministry that we are involved with full time is a school called GuGu's. A woman name GuGu started this school when she discovered that children (9+ years old) were prostituting themselves in order to get money to pay for school... These children are so precious and full of joy, despite their innocence being robbed from them at such a tender age. It is a blessing to work with them because they are very eager to learn! This has been such a humbling, eye-opening, and heartbreaking experience. Reality is rough!
I wrote about Gugu in a blog two years ago. Her story is a challenge to us all that God can do big things with willing hearts. Mary-Kate Martin wrote more about Gugu:
 Originally, GuGu did not want to start a school, but started a Bible club for the children in the “squatter camp.” She sat down with over one hundred children, ages 2-15, one day and wanted to talk to them about sex before marriage. “If you are still a virgin, please raise your hand,” she told the kids. No one raised their hand.
She figured they didn’t understand so she asked again, “If you have not had sex before, please raise your hand.” Still no hands went up. She still didn’t understand so she asked the children if they understood and they said yes. GuGu’s heart broke for them and she started crying. She asked the children more questions about it and they told her that there was a place many of them went to have sex, where beds and dividers were made out of plastic bags from the nearby garbage dump.
Shocked by all of this, she asked the kids when they had time to do this, before or after school. They told her they didn’t go to school because they could not afford it. She asked them if they went to school, would they stop having sex and they told her they would. GuGu went home that one day, and made one decision to start a school for these children.
While these kids are having to deal with issues way beyond what little ones ought to face, people like Gugu are stepping up to answer God's call to be courageous. Today may be a day of decision for you today, as it was for Gugu.
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