I had intentions to post much more on this blog. I was hoping to write about our preparations for the trip, give details about the locations we are visiting, and just general updates each week before the trip. However, as many of you know, those plans were cut short last week when Martin had his motorcycle accident. Thankfully, God protected him from major injuries, and Martin is healing very well. He had surgery on his left wrist last week, and his abrasions are becoming less and less painful as they continue to heal quickly. As a result of Martin's accident, he has been unable to work, and my days have consisted of changing his gauze and cleaning his wounds, calling health insurance and trying to understand medical bills, calling his motorcycle insurance and dealing with selling the bike to Progressive, and many other little errands and chores. Because of this, my intentions to keep up with the blog have been put on hold. And it hit me today that we have only a week and two days before we leave for Argentina.
And yes, we are still able to go to Argentina. That has been one of the biggest questions when we explain Martin's accident: "are you still going on your trip?" Along with the question, "are you keeping the bike?!" which we laugh at, because that was the first thing Martin said he was getting rid of when I visited him in the Emergency Room. God has been gracious towards us in that while we have dealt with the incredible stress of the repercussions from Martin's accident, we have been surrounded by incredible support and love from all of our family and friends. Visits from friends bringing Subway sandwiches and Red's barbecue dinner, grocery shopping trips when I've been caught up at home, and keeping Martin company while I'm off at work. God has been rapidly healing Martin's body, and we were blessed by Dr.Raven's surgical skills and being able to get surgery in so quickly. It has been a test of our trust in God in so many ways, but I believe that this has strengthened our trust in ways that we did not anticipate. He is faithful to continue to draw us closer to Himself, and refine us as we become more and more like Him.
Only one more week! Can you believe it?!
Blessings,
Ali
Monday, July 23, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Give thanks to the LORD
The Psalms are FULL of lyrics speaking of giving thanks to God! Over and over again, you will see the words "give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!" and, "Give thanks to His Lord, praise His holy name!", and "His steadfast love endures forever!" We have so many reasons to praise God, and it is so important that we remember to do so. When we thank Him, not only are we praising Him for His good works, but we are reminding OURSELVES that He cares for us, provides for us, and loves us!
Today we are doing just that since earlier today we got the email from Encompass that we are FULLY FUNDED for our trip to Argentina!! It has been so incredibly exciting to see who God used to support us, and how quickly this came to pass! We had anticipated a deficit in our expenses upon our return (that was when the trip needed to be paid for fully), and God chose instead to provide fully for us in just one month!!
To end this post, I want to leave some verses from one of my favorite Psalms that speaks of thanksgiving to God:
"I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. . . All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you! They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom." - Psalm 145:1-5, 10-12
Today we are doing just that since earlier today we got the email from Encompass that we are FULLY FUNDED for our trip to Argentina!! It has been so incredibly exciting to see who God used to support us, and how quickly this came to pass! We had anticipated a deficit in our expenses upon our return (that was when the trip needed to be paid for fully), and God chose instead to provide fully for us in just one month!!
To end this post, I want to leave some verses from one of my favorite Psalms that speaks of thanksgiving to God:
"I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. . . All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you! They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom." - Psalm 145:1-5, 10-12
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Yard Sale Success!
Happy Sunday everyone! I am currently nursing a pretty bad sunburn on my neck and shoulders from my time in the sun yesterday, but other than that, I am ECSTATIC to share with you about our yard sale the other day!
Martin's mom, Brenda, offered to host a yard sale for us a few weeks back to raise money for our trip. We were both thankful for her offer and excited to see how God would provide. I was praying that we would make $100, maybe $200 from this yard sale. I had even shared with some friends a few days before the yard sale that I was just hoping for a small success, and my friend Karrah had prayed that God would provide in a major way through the sale. From that, I was thinking, maybe we could get to $500. And even that seemed like a long shot to me!
We had so many wonderful friends and neighbors donate items to the yard sale, so much that when I showed up Saturday morning, I didn't recognize about 85% of the stuff that was in Brenda's front yard! We were beyond blessed by the amount of furniture, brand-new, and gently-used items that were donated. We were told by many of the people who came by that ours was the best yard sale in town that day!
And now, the most exciting part of this update: God took my meager request for a couple hundred, and blessed us immensely by bringing in $1,640!!!! That's more than 1/4 of our total expenses for our trip! God really likes to take our simple requests of trust and provision and show up in BIG ways!!
The majority of our total amount came from Brenda selling her hardwood flooring. I was skeptical at first that anyone would be coming to a garage sale looking for hardwood flooring, but one of Brenda's neighbors knew of a friend who was looking for some, and called up his buddy to come over and check it out. Since it was brand-new, still in the box, and we were selling it for less than half the price of what you would buy at Home Depot, we sold $930 worth to the guy!! And it was a blessing to him in return, as he was originally unable to afford hardwood flooring. His wife was so happy, she cried when he brought it home. Isn't it exciting how God works?!
We are so thankful to everyone who donated items, prayed for our yard sale, and came by! God took the biggest amount I envisioned possible from the yard sale and TRIPLED IT. And I am convinced that this is a direct result of so many of you praying for a succesful sale. Thank you all! We are thrilled to say that after this yard sale, we will be at 75% of our funding!! God is good!
Blessings,
Ali
Martin's mom, Brenda, offered to host a yard sale for us a few weeks back to raise money for our trip. We were both thankful for her offer and excited to see how God would provide. I was praying that we would make $100, maybe $200 from this yard sale. I had even shared with some friends a few days before the yard sale that I was just hoping for a small success, and my friend Karrah had prayed that God would provide in a major way through the sale. From that, I was thinking, maybe we could get to $500. And even that seemed like a long shot to me!
We had so many wonderful friends and neighbors donate items to the yard sale, so much that when I showed up Saturday morning, I didn't recognize about 85% of the stuff that was in Brenda's front yard! We were beyond blessed by the amount of furniture, brand-new, and gently-used items that were donated. We were told by many of the people who came by that ours was the best yard sale in town that day!
And now, the most exciting part of this update: God took my meager request for a couple hundred, and blessed us immensely by bringing in $1,640!!!! That's more than 1/4 of our total expenses for our trip! God really likes to take our simple requests of trust and provision and show up in BIG ways!!
The majority of our total amount came from Brenda selling her hardwood flooring. I was skeptical at first that anyone would be coming to a garage sale looking for hardwood flooring, but one of Brenda's neighbors knew of a friend who was looking for some, and called up his buddy to come over and check it out. Since it was brand-new, still in the box, and we were selling it for less than half the price of what you would buy at Home Depot, we sold $930 worth to the guy!! And it was a blessing to him in return, as he was originally unable to afford hardwood flooring. His wife was so happy, she cried when he brought it home. Isn't it exciting how God works?!
We are so thankful to everyone who donated items, prayed for our yard sale, and came by! God took the biggest amount I envisioned possible from the yard sale and TRIPLED IT. And I am convinced that this is a direct result of so many of you praying for a succesful sale. Thank you all! We are thrilled to say that after this yard sale, we will be at 75% of our funding!! God is good!
Blessings,
Ali
Thursday, May 31, 2012
32.5% funded!
Good afternoon everyone!
This week, we received our first financial support update. When I opened up that spreadsheet, my mouth dropped open and I started to cry. Not full force, because I happened to be in Coffee Bean and couldn't bring myself to crying like that in public. But I was so overwhelmed and moved to realize that in just one week, God provided for us in a HUGE way: We received 32.5% of our funding! In just ONE WEEK!! Is anyone else just completely baffled by this reality?! Beyond that, I am humbled by the incredible generosity of so many of you. Knowing that everyone has their fair share of bills to pay, rent due, and so many are working jobs that allow them to just get by, I cannot express how thankful I am for your generous sacrifice. This reminds me of how Paul describes the cheerful giver in 2 Corinthians 9:6-15:
"The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written,
“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!"
Now when I read this passage, so many of you come to mind, and I am overjoyed. I am blessed by how you live out the Gospel, and how richly you will be blessed as a result of your generous giving! I am certain He will bless you all 100 fold for your sacrifices.
Another wonderful update I wanted to share: We have purchased our plane tickets!! I know your thinking, "wait . . . I thought you needed 80% of your funding for that to happen?" and yes, that is true, as that is normally Encompass' protocol when it comes to purchasing flights. However, praise God, they decided to make an exception for us as they believe God has shown He is providing for us already and wanted to honor that by purchasing our plane tickets now! To say I am amazed, is really an understatement. I never even thought that would be a possibility! When I prayed, I said "Lord, I trust that either you will bring in 80% of our funding in a week, or bring in the additional $2,000. Either way, I trust you." I didn't imagine this alternative! God likes to show up in BIG ways, doesn't He?!
I am so full of joy and thankfulness right now. I hope you all can join us in praising God for how He is reminding us that He has a plan and will see it through!!
Blessings,
Ali
This week, we received our first financial support update. When I opened up that spreadsheet, my mouth dropped open and I started to cry. Not full force, because I happened to be in Coffee Bean and couldn't bring myself to crying like that in public. But I was so overwhelmed and moved to realize that in just one week, God provided for us in a HUGE way: We received 32.5% of our funding! In just ONE WEEK!! Is anyone else just completely baffled by this reality?! Beyond that, I am humbled by the incredible generosity of so many of you. Knowing that everyone has their fair share of bills to pay, rent due, and so many are working jobs that allow them to just get by, I cannot express how thankful I am for your generous sacrifice. This reminds me of how Paul describes the cheerful giver in 2 Corinthians 9:6-15:
"The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written,
“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!"
Now when I read this passage, so many of you come to mind, and I am overjoyed. I am blessed by how you live out the Gospel, and how richly you will be blessed as a result of your generous giving! I am certain He will bless you all 100 fold for your sacrifices.
Another wonderful update I wanted to share: We have purchased our plane tickets!! I know your thinking, "wait . . . I thought you needed 80% of your funding for that to happen?" and yes, that is true, as that is normally Encompass' protocol when it comes to purchasing flights. However, praise God, they decided to make an exception for us as they believe God has shown He is providing for us already and wanted to honor that by purchasing our plane tickets now! To say I am amazed, is really an understatement. I never even thought that would be a possibility! When I prayed, I said "Lord, I trust that either you will bring in 80% of our funding in a week, or bring in the additional $2,000. Either way, I trust you." I didn't imagine this alternative! God likes to show up in BIG ways, doesn't He?!
I am so full of joy and thankfulness right now. I hope you all can join us in praising God for how He is reminding us that He has a plan and will see it through!!
Blessings,
Ali
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Graduation and Financial Update
Big news in the Cottrell household: I graduated from EBC
this weekend! It was wonderfully surreal receiving my diploma and being prayed
over by our amazing staff. Yvonne almost made me cry when she prayed over me,
and I definitely had my fair share of tears hearing prayers of fellow graduates
and reflecting on these past 3 years. God has been so good to me as He has
molded me and made me more and more like Him through my time at EBC. I am so
thankful! I’ve included a few highlight pictures from the day at the bottom of the post.
In other news, we received an update from Encompass, the
mission organization we are partnering with, concerning purchasing our flight
tickets for Argentina. The system Encompass goes by for ticket purchasing is
that missionary’s need 80% of funding before they purchase our flight. For us,
that 80% is $4,800. Originally, we had hoped to reach that number by the end of
June, beginning of July. However, as of late, flights to Argentina during the
month of August are becoming less and less available, which leads to the
possibility of ticket prices rising anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to
an additional $2,000. In hopes of avoiding such an extreme price increase, we
are now aiming for purchasing the flights by the beginning of June. If you are
thinking, isn’t that a week away? You are right! And it is definitely much
sooner than we anticipated needing that 80%! I fully believed God could provide
for us the funds within a month, but a week is a bit more of a challenge for me.
I have been meditating on and praying through two Scriptures
that are a great source of encouragement and hope for me since we learned of
the new goal:
Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope
without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”
Mark 10:27 “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘with man it is
impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.’”
These are the two truths I am clinging to right now: that I
can hold fast to God because He is faithful, and because He does the
impossible!
We wanted to share with you this financial update to let you
know what is currently an urgent need for us. We want to avoid any additional
expenses related to airfare, and would ask those of you who were interested in
supporting us to please make your donations as soon as you are able to! We are
so thankful for your generosity and desire to partner with us as we pursue the
possibilities of long-term ministry in Argentina! You can either mail in a
check written out to Encompass World Partners to this address:
Encompass World Partners P.O. Box 80065 City of Industry, CA
91716
OR you can go to the Encompass website, encompassworldpartners.org,
and go to “Give” or “Give Now” to
make a donation via credit or debit card. That will bring you to a page where
you can choose “Give to a Missionary”, type in our names since we are not
long-term through Encompass just yet, and enter in a donation amount. The site
should walk you through the rest easily!
We hope you will join us in praying, as we trust God with
our needs related to ticket purchases now! We are waiting on Him and excited to
see how He will provide!
Blessings,
Ali
Thankful for all God has done during my time at EBC, including bringing this wonderful man into my life!
Friday, May 11, 2012
Beginnings
I'm going to start off this blog by saying that I always envision myself a brilliant writer, and it never translates into reality when I actually sit down to write. All the same, we wanted to create this blog as a way to share with our friends and family about this next season in our life, as we explore the possibilities of ministry in Argentina. So even if the words are a bit sloppy, full of run-on sentences and maybe even a few random ramblings, it's all done in the hopes of giving you a glimpse into life as we know it.
This is Ali writing, by the way. Martin is sitting next to me reading Game of Thrones. He's been devouring the series since he got the first novel at Christmas. Of course, considering his love of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, it comes as no surprise that he would be so engaged in this newest fantasy fiction. Most of my reading these days has consisted of volumes of Biblical commentaries, Greek word study encyclopedias, and exegetical articles. Thus is the life of the Bible College student, I suppose. I enjoy the occasional break in reading The Pioneer Woman's cooking blog.
Many of you reading this probably wandered over here because you received our newsletter in the mail telling you about our upcoming trip to Argentina this August. Surely you are curious to know more about how we came to the place we are at right now, so I will try to inform you a bit on how all of this unraveled.
Most of you know that I am fluent in spanish. For those of you who don't, I'll tell you right now, it is slightly awkward when someone finds out and says "You never told me you spoke spanish!". Well, that's not exactly how my mother taught me to introduce myself, I guess. Sorry. I knew God gifted me with fluency in spanish for a reason, and I have prayed for some time that He would use my abilities in this regard to spread the Gospel. This fall semester at EBC, I was in my Worldview class (one of the best, by the way!) when we had guests from Argentina come in to speak with the class. I loved hearing from them about their passion to see their country learn about Jesus, empowering the people to evangelize and share God's love. I spoke with Jorge and Pola, the guest speakers, after class for sometime and we clicked very quickly. They invited me to visit them anytime, which, in latin culture, is basically standard. So of course I said "oh, sure! We'll see", as we exchanged emails and went our separate ways.
Oddly enough, I learned in an email later that same month that they weren't just trying to be nice; they were serious. They asked me if I ever desired to join their ministry in Argentina, they would be thrilled. So, Martin and I discussed what this could mean for us. We both knew that if God called us to the mission field, we would love to go, but also didn't want to try and "force" the calling. So we decided to pray about it. After about a month, we both felt that God was calling us to trust Him and let Him lead us.
God taught me a lot during that time of waiting on Him. I tend to over analyze everything and think ten years in advance. I usually get over-excited and start thinking about how my kids will have dual citizenship if they are born overseas, and those types of silly daydreams. Yet, by God's grace, He didn't allow me to get ahead of myself this time. I didn't know what was coming next, if and when we would even be going, what that would look like for us, and yet I wasn't anxious or worried about it. Well, maybe a teensy bit, but nowhere near the amount that typically involves any minor and major life changes for me. God really showed me that trusting Him with each little step brings the greatest joy as I get to see Him work and bring things together.
We originally thought that, with timing and preparations, we wouldn't be going to Argentina until potentially December or later. Both Martin and I hoped for a summer trip, as we had things that worked out best for us time-wise to take a trip during this season, but instead of trying to hurry things up ourselves, we prayed "whatever You know is best for us, we trust in." Low and behold, God "expedited" our travel plans and we were told our trip would take place this August! I think God just loves when He gets to show up in a big way, because He gets all of the credit and I just get so giddy.
So, here we are. I'm finishing up my last semester in Bible College, reflecting on how much God has shaped me in my understanding of who He is and what it means to follow Him. So I am excited to follow His leading in whatever He has next for us. Starting with a glimpse into what He has been doing in Argentina and how we may get the privilege of joining with the rest of His faithful workers there.
This is Ali writing, by the way. Martin is sitting next to me reading Game of Thrones. He's been devouring the series since he got the first novel at Christmas. Of course, considering his love of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, it comes as no surprise that he would be so engaged in this newest fantasy fiction. Most of my reading these days has consisted of volumes of Biblical commentaries, Greek word study encyclopedias, and exegetical articles. Thus is the life of the Bible College student, I suppose. I enjoy the occasional break in reading The Pioneer Woman's cooking blog.
Many of you reading this probably wandered over here because you received our newsletter in the mail telling you about our upcoming trip to Argentina this August. Surely you are curious to know more about how we came to the place we are at right now, so I will try to inform you a bit on how all of this unraveled.
Most of you know that I am fluent in spanish. For those of you who don't, I'll tell you right now, it is slightly awkward when someone finds out and says "You never told me you spoke spanish!". Well, that's not exactly how my mother taught me to introduce myself, I guess. Sorry. I knew God gifted me with fluency in spanish for a reason, and I have prayed for some time that He would use my abilities in this regard to spread the Gospel. This fall semester at EBC, I was in my Worldview class (one of the best, by the way!) when we had guests from Argentina come in to speak with the class. I loved hearing from them about their passion to see their country learn about Jesus, empowering the people to evangelize and share God's love. I spoke with Jorge and Pola, the guest speakers, after class for sometime and we clicked very quickly. They invited me to visit them anytime, which, in latin culture, is basically standard. So of course I said "oh, sure! We'll see", as we exchanged emails and went our separate ways.
Oddly enough, I learned in an email later that same month that they weren't just trying to be nice; they were serious. They asked me if I ever desired to join their ministry in Argentina, they would be thrilled. So, Martin and I discussed what this could mean for us. We both knew that if God called us to the mission field, we would love to go, but also didn't want to try and "force" the calling. So we decided to pray about it. After about a month, we both felt that God was calling us to trust Him and let Him lead us.
God taught me a lot during that time of waiting on Him. I tend to over analyze everything and think ten years in advance. I usually get over-excited and start thinking about how my kids will have dual citizenship if they are born overseas, and those types of silly daydreams. Yet, by God's grace, He didn't allow me to get ahead of myself this time. I didn't know what was coming next, if and when we would even be going, what that would look like for us, and yet I wasn't anxious or worried about it. Well, maybe a teensy bit, but nowhere near the amount that typically involves any minor and major life changes for me. God really showed me that trusting Him with each little step brings the greatest joy as I get to see Him work and bring things together.
We originally thought that, with timing and preparations, we wouldn't be going to Argentina until potentially December or later. Both Martin and I hoped for a summer trip, as we had things that worked out best for us time-wise to take a trip during this season, but instead of trying to hurry things up ourselves, we prayed "whatever You know is best for us, we trust in." Low and behold, God "expedited" our travel plans and we were told our trip would take place this August! I think God just loves when He gets to show up in a big way, because He gets all of the credit and I just get so giddy.
So, here we are. I'm finishing up my last semester in Bible College, reflecting on how much God has shaped me in my understanding of who He is and what it means to follow Him. So I am excited to follow His leading in whatever He has next for us. Starting with a glimpse into what He has been doing in Argentina and how we may get the privilege of joining with the rest of His faithful workers there.
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