Team Spears

"You can always tell a Spears, but you can't tell 'em much." "There's no I in Spears!", and "Give me an S, give me a P, give me an E..." were just a few of the cheers motivating Team Spears this past week on the family vacation to Oregon, where six or us competed in and narrowly completed the Crater Lake Rim Run. The devastatingly hilly course unified us through pre-race trepidations, post-race horror stories, and the common bond of pain.

Similar to the farewell tour through Colorado with the Scott side of the family last month, this trip was a gorgeous, fun-filled, memorable time with loved ones I see far too little of. Four Spearses traveled from KY to meet my sister from NM and join two cousins, an aunt, an uncle, and a few old friends for some racing, rafting, hiking, bouldering, swimming, and good old-fashioned togetherness, (which ten people in a one bathroom cabin is very good for.)

I also met, and fell in love with, the most adorable two-year-old boy, Soren Brumbach. (I can use this superlative, because all the two year olds I currently dote on are girls.) The watermelon hat he is modeling (left) was intended for his three-month-old sister, but I think he looks dashing!

As the day of my departure creeps closer, the people around me show ever-increasing grace with my fanatical photography and growing sentimentality. I sense that God is filling me up before sending me out. I'm absolutely loving the intimacy with friends and family this time has allowed me, but I hope I can do it justice by allowing God to pour me out like a drink offering once I'm overflowing with love from all these wonderful people.

CVM East

You've all heard of Christian Veterinary Mission (or you've most likely been throwing away my prayer letters as junk mail.) But you may not have known that the Seattle based non-profit has expanded to the East Coast, specifically to Mary and Jack McDonald's farm in Catawba, Virginia. Pictured below is the farm, its director (Mary--my Bolivian predecessor), and its first two students, Shelley and I, there for the weekend to reconnect with our long lost large animal skills as we prepare for veterinary ministry in South Africa and South America, respectively.

Working with these livestock as well as ducks, horses, cattle, and alpacas was a confidence booster and a good reminder of how valuable our trade can be in underdeveloped countries. Part of our practice was in the art of Participatory Training Methodology. In her book on this subject, Learning Together, Susan Stewart said, "Animals provide the resource base for the vast majority of rural poor around the world. They are the banking system, often providing the buffer between survival and death. When people lose their animals through war, greed, natural disturbances and disease, the family or family members go without schooling, food and healthcare and sometimes die.” I feel so blessed to have such a practical way to serve needy people and share God's love. And I'm so thankful to have such great mentors and resources at CVM both East and West!

(These pictures were not staged to prove that my entire summer has not been merely lounging around enjoying myself and my friends, but they sure do help with that.)

Traveling Mercies

5 days on the road, 1,300 miles behind the wheel, 26.5 long lost friends hugged, and TNTC calories ingested (Too Numerous To Count for those of you outside the microbiology world). Last Friday, I packed my car with snacks and audio books and headed South to visit with everyone I could round up in every city my Google map took me through.

I met, and approved of, a new husband, new boyfriend, new baby, new roommate, new dog, and new fetus. On my journey I picked a gallon of blueberries from my friend's farm, ran from crazy dogs on country roads, played tennis in the rain, and shared about Bolivia a lot.

People ask me if I'm sick of talking about Bolivia, and I can honestly answer that I'm not, but I do savor the times when others have stories to share and I'm free to listen and be reminded that there are other events going on in the world outside of South America. It was a wonderful time of nostalgia, catching up, and praying with friends. I learned of joys and struggles too intimate for the pages of Facebook. And as I made my way through homes, cities, and states I recognized that God's purpose for my trip was to understand how to support my supporters. A support team doesn't have to be one-sided. I want to be able to pray specifically for the needs and desire of the people praying for

me, and I hope to have the

opportunity to encourage all of you who have been such an encouragement to me. Thank you for opening your homes, your pocketbooks, and your hearts to me!

"For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better." Ephesians 1:15-17

Honoring my Father

For almost a month, I've been back home with my parents in Louisville. It's been great to spend some time with them after being away in Maryland for awhile and before being away in Bolivia for another while. My dad and I have been training together for a road race in Oregon in a couple weeks. Between gasps for air he often finds enough energy and Oxygen to share valuable wisdom. So valuable that I couldn't keep the Gospel according to Dad to myself...

"God loves us so we can love others, and reflect His love to them.

Before we did anything to deserve it we received God's love through the cross, "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8. After such a generous gift, it would be redundant and ungrateful to work for God's love. But embracing His love causes us to want to love others.

Under the law of the old covenant, our deeds tried to earn us righteousness, but since Christ brought us grace our deeds now result from righteousness. There is a huge difference between trying to earn someone's approval and serving out of gratitude for what they have done for you. We don't have to please God by our actions, we are pleasing to God just by believing that."

My own actions here and plans for the future center around serving out of gratitude for that ultimate act of service Jesus did for us. His overwhelming love compels me to love others. It has been such a blessing to be filled up here through family and friends this summer so that I'll be overflowing with agape for His people in South America.

"Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction; pay attention and gain understanding." -Proverbs 4:1

Feliz Cumpleanos, Papa!

Spend Yourself for Justice

One way to start could be by spending a little cash to help provide justice by wearing a T-shirt. Here's what our friends at Spendyourself have to say about their new partner project in Kenya:

"It doesn't take long to become aware of vast array of injustice in our society today. With access to information that came with the 21st century (search 'injustice' in Google and you get 18,500,000 results), it becomes easy to grow numb to the pain that exists in our world.

When confronted with these experiences, we are faced with the decision to respond or carry on as if nothing has changed. Responding in love requires sacrifice, faith, and usually a step outside of our kingdom of comfort & safety. However, I would make the argument that not responding is the most dangerous thing we can do. Lack of response produces complacency, apathy, and laziness. Give me a choice of the two, and the latter is what scares me most.

"It's time for 'us' to say that 'they' matter and together, 'we' can be a part of bringing hope to those who need it." -This is the quote from Spendyourself's newest partner, Life In Abundance International.

What is most striking about this organization is the true partnerships that they have formed in Kenya. Rather than developing a sense of dependency or approaching a situation with an attitude of superiority, they truly work alongside those they wish to empower.

In January, 2008, post-election violence erupted throughout Kenya's urban centers. Particularly affected was a city known as Kisumu. In addition to this, HIV/AIDS has devastated both families and entire cities in parallel. For years, Life in Abundance International has been responding to this crisis in Kisumu with a wholistic and sustainable approach. Spendyourself's latest design, the Kisumu project, will be supporting the work done with AIDS orphans in the Nyalenda slum."

Check out the new shirts, and maybe you'll get a chance to be a voice for the voiceless.

International Justice Day

July 17th commemorates 11 years since the Rome Statute was adopted leading to the establishment of the International Criminal Court. The holiday may not have made it into Hallmark's calendar or have its own greeting card, but the significance of being able to address such global corruptions as genocide, slavery, and torture in an international court is worth mentioning. I would be far out of my league to discuss the details of this law, or its controversies, but I appreciate the intent as pursuing justice worldwide.

In much the same way Martin Luther King Jr. recognized the need for justice everywhere and not just in his own neighborhood. Responding to criticism that his actions were "untimely and unwise" he wrote a lengthy letter from a jail cell in Birmingham, reminiscent of those written by the Apostle Paul in similar settings. MLK was living in Atlanta but could not sit idly by while discrimination took place in Birmingham.

People often question why I feel lead to move so far away to address poverty and oppression in Bolivia. King answered more eloquently than I ever could in his letter from prison, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere... Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."

"But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here... just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town."

It reminds me of another passage, from which the idea of "spend yourself" came from,"Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of injustice, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, to cover him; and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?" -Isaiah 58:6-7

Rocky Mountain High

Running into a llama on a hike and throwing snowballs in July helped me justify this week's family vacation to Colorado as preparation for Bolivia, where camelids are prevalent and the seasons are reversed.

(At least as long as I ignore the reality that I'll be working in the opposite side of the country from the mountains, snow, and alpacas.

There will be sand dunes in my region of Bolivia however, so surmounting the nearly insurmountable largest sand dunes in North America should count as valid training.

Nonetheless, the real significance of the trip had little to do with the future, and everything to do with optimizing the present.

I can think of no more perfect place than the Rockies to enjoy the company of my maternal family, suspending the inevitable fact that they will continue to grow and change in my absence for quite awhile now. I trust that God has great plans for each of them, but if it were up to me they would all remain exactly as adorable, dramatic, entertaining, generous, hilarious, talented and unique as they are right now... I love you guys!