ENGLISH CAMP ANKO!

Head on over to ecdestinationhaitiDOTblogspotDOTcom to hear about what's going on this year in English Camp!

I'm Not Alright - Sanctus Real

If weakness is a wound that no one wants to speak of
The "cool" is just how far we have to fall
And I'm not immune, I only want to be loved
But I feel safe behind the firewall

Can I lose my need to impress?
If you want the truth I need to confess

I'm not alright, I'm broken inside, broken inside
And all I go through, it leads me to You, it leads me to you

Burn away the pride
Bring me to my weakness
Until everything I hide behind is gone
And when I'm open wide with nothing left to cling to
Only You are there to lead me on.

'Cause honestly, I'm not that strong.

I'm not alright, I'm broken inside
Broken inside
And all I go through, it leads me to You
It leads me to You
Closer to You

And I'll move,
and I'll move,
and I'll move,
Closer to You (x3)

I'm not alright I'm broken inside
Broken inside
I'm broken inside, Broken inside
And all I go through leads me to You
Leads me to You

I'm not alright, I'm not alright
I'm not alright

... that's why I need You.


God's got me - I know it, I just need to live like I know it - moping isn't going to solve anything.  God's got it all under control and can heal the wounds I'm facing, that Haiti's facing. 

I need You.  This all leads me to You.

M'ap Vini, Ayiti Cheri!

I'm headed to Haiti on Monday - I'm so stoked!  I think this will help me get some closure and just grieve a bit... or something.  It's so hard to explain.  Thank you all for your prayers - I'll do my best to keep you updated!

LOve.Chelsey.

A month.

A month of sorrows,
A month of despair,
A month of pain,
A month of prayer,
A month of uncertainty,
A month of fear,
A month of strength,
A month of endurance,
A month of little miracles,
A month of awareness,
A month of anger,
A month of grief,
A month of mourning,
A month of caring,
A month of the unknown,
A month of the unbelievable,
A month of the unforgettable,
A month of the unexplainable,
A month of the misunderstood,
A month of the worst,
A month of need,
A month of giving,
A month of insecurity,
A month of misery,
A month of humanity,
A month of repentance,
A month of salvation,
A month of mercy,
A month of grace,
A month of love,
A month of God's hope,
A month of being held.



A month has gone by since the quake, but I have not forgotten. Haiti has not forgotten. We WILL NOT FORGET. Do not let others forget - it is not over and will not be for a long, long time to come.

Haiti Quake

My heart is broken today as I write this, yet there have been moments of pure joy as a result of the outpouring of love and support from those who have seen the dire needs in Haiti and have striven to meet them.  First of all, my family is OK.  My parents were in Orlando, FL, for the Disney Marathon (see this, posted previously) to help raise money for an ambulance for our women's center.  My five younger siblings, Katie Grace,  Joseph, Benjamin, Dominique and Isabelle, along with our dear friend Kelly Tobin (who was standing in for my parents while they were gone) were all in Haiti at the time of the quake.  They are all safe and unharmed.  Kelly, Katie, Joe, Ben, and Dom were all evacuated by the US Air Force late Wed/early Thurs and are now with Kelly at her home in NH and will soon be reunited with my mom.  Isabelle is still in Haiti, in the care of Brittany Gilbert, while my parents advocate for an emergency visa for her.  My parents are collecting supplies and funds to send down with my dad and Beth and Morgan McHoul, who are set to fly down on a chartered flight tomorrow.  Monetary donations, should you feel the need to give, can be sent to:

Heartline Ministries
c/o Nichols Accounting
5680 E. Franklin Road, Suite 110 Nampa, ID 83687


Be sure to include a note designating it towards earthquake relief.  If you are more the internet type, you can go to haiti-relief.org , where you can donate to Heartline via paypal.  Thank you for your support and prayers!!!!


LOve.Chelsey


PS - look here and here and here for direct updates, and follow any Tlucek family updates here.  Email byrontlucek@aol.com to sign up for email updates from my parents.


 

Rete nan Mwen

Abide... Rete... Stay... What do these words bring to mind? "Staying" in while your friends are out partying? Stuck "staying" in a town you don't like? Or, on a more dramatic note, telling a loved one to "stay" with you, to not go...? Abiding with a person with which you do not get along? Abiding with with the one you love, forever? You can take this word and its synonyms (stay, live with, reside, remain...) and look at it from many different contexts, all used differently in different situations. I personally am choosing to "abide" or "rete" in Christ. For He said:

4Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.  7If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. 11These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. (John 15:4-11 NASB)

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(I have included different translations/versions to look at the different ways it's phrased - they're in no particular order)
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4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

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4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! (John 15:4-11 NLT)

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4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will[a] ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Love and Joy Perfected

9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.   (John 15:4-11 NKJV)

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4"Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

5-8"I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.
9-10"I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done—kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.
11-15"I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. (MSG)

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I am reading the book When God Writes Your Live Story, and they had this quote in there:

"Abide in Me, for without Me you can do nothing." ~Jesus Christ

It made me stop and think, "Am I abiding in Him?  Is all that I'm 'doing' going to dust?  Is it burning away? (1 Corinthians 3:10-14)  Am I as a "clanging cymbal" (1 Cor. 13:1-3), and gaining nothing through all my efforts?"  I then thought about how I spent my time and whether or not I was really and truly "abiding" and "making my home" in Him. I was made sadly aware of how I was neglecting Him, and how that has affected my performance in other areas of my life. We can't do anything worthwhile or anything with meaning and purpose in our lives without this Love, this Jesus.  I knew that I needed to cut out the things that were hindering me and keeping me from remaining in Him and making my home in Him.  So, facebook and television need to be put on the proverbial shelf, internet surfing needs to stop, and abiding must begin.

San Jezi, m' paka fe anyen. 

 

 

Haiti, Here We Come!

Many of you know that I am a biology major, premed, at the College of Idaho. I am so blessed to be a part of Campus Ministries, where I am a part of their program team (we plan fun events) and Potter's Clay, a club that puts together service trips to other countries and even to places in the States, such at NYC or San Francisco or even our own city of Caldwell. This year I am blessed to help put together a trip to Haiti! We are going to be helping out my parents at the kids' homes, painting, a medical clinic perhaps, playing with kids at other orphanages, and all sorts of awesome stuff. We have a group of fifteen people going, and I am absolutely stoked! We have a bit of fund raising to do, as we all must get plane tickets (half of us have them bought, the others probably will by next week), pay for our food and such while we're in Haiti, and buy supplies for what we have to do while we are there.

If any of you would like to support us in our endeavor, you can send your donations to:

Campus Ministries
The College of Idaho
Box 52
2112 Cleveland Blvd.
Caldwell, ID 83605

Make checks payable to the College of Idaho. For tax purposes, you may put "Haiti" in the memo, but DO NOT WRITE MY NAME ON THE CHECK, even in the memo. You can include a note with your check, though, if you would like. :)

So, along with much homework and an extensive biology project, that is what I am up to as of late. Know that you're always free to email me if you have any questions or want me to write about anything of interest to you! mk4haiti@gmail.com

~Chelsey