Hey everyone! So i leave for spain in the morning at 520! I wont be able to do email or updates via phone so when i have a computer with internet ill update you with pictures and video if possible. If you want an email sent to you, leave a comment on this post with your email and i will email you the updates:) thanks for your prayers! See you in july!

Ethnographic Project

Hey again for the third/ fourth time in a day hahahaha most i've written to you in quite some time huh ? haha well here's the last thing i am writing for today (or the moment ;) )
this is my ethnographic paper for my class with Mike Larkin. enjoy :] again

This semester I have been privileged to be involved once with Adopt-a-Block from the Dream Center. We took the bus to Crenshaw Boulevard and split into three groups; one who passed out food on the sidewalk, one who took kids to the park and played with them, and one that went to each apartment complex (that allowed us) and passed out flyers which is the group I was involved in. At first it was very difficult for me to go up to strangers homes and tell them about a ministry that I’m not involved in and pray they respond to me, but it got easier as the time went on. I believe that day we hit around 150 doors, which is about four or five apartment buildings. That is a lot for me, but for those who went there weekly, it meant more because at that time they were having difficulty getting enough volunteers so when our group showed up to help they were very thankful. It was an uplifting point for me because I didn’t know that they were low on volunteers and that they were praying for volunteers, and that we were an answer to their prayers.

We finished early because of how many of us there were so we decided as a group to go to this newly remodeled apartment complex the next street over and see if there were any people there. So we took some candy bars and flyers and headed over there and found a few people living there. We were able to talk with one family who was Muslim about coming to Angeles Temple and they were enthusiastic about it which was really encouraging because while we were on the other street, we didn’t get any real response from people and this was the first positive response that we got. It surprised me even more because I didn’t expect to be getting a response from anyone because no one answered the door at first but then they answered the door and we gave the candy bars we had to her and her kids. The look on the woman’s face when we gave the kids candy bars was one that was really touching because she had this amazed look on her face about what we just did and then continued talking with us and agreed to come to Angeles Temple the next day. Even though I will never know if she and her family did end up going I know that we touched their lives in a way that prayerfully will never be forgotten.

A unique aspect of the Adopt-a-Block ministry is the intense way in which they drive themselves to meet the needs of the community. They meet you face-to-face and see what it is you really need. Not just what you want because someone is asking, but what you really need because you can’t live without it. The Dream Center’s thing is that they are trying to get you to find God in all of it life, no matter what their history or background is no matter who you are, where you are from, what you have done they want to accept you into God ‘s family. The fact that they do it every week no matter the weather or economy is amazing to me, which shows me how serious they are about building relationships with the people. I was very blessed to have been able to reach a people I didn’t know, with different religions, lifestyles and cultures than I have experienced. One thing that hit me was when you accept their children you are essentially accepting them and their faults and short comings. Its something I saw in several of the families that were visited. When you know their kids by name and give them something they might not be able to do that brings joy to the kids, it brings joy to the families which in turn brings joy to you because you have just began to provide for someone’s needs other than your own. And that for me is the ultimate reward for serving a people other than those that I am used to being around.

Life Mission [Revisited]

So heres some more of my papers....hahaha probably boring to some but to others it could be insight into whats going on here :]
so here now is a 'paragraph' on what my life mission is: once again enjoy :]


At this point in the semester I believe that my life mission is to serve God in everything I do, from serving with kids at church, to handing out flyers in Crenshaw Boulevard to feeding seniors at Senior Love and pulling weeds in the rain at the Mobil Home Outreach. Other than serving in those ways, I have never been able to have a definite plan for my life, I have tried and tried (mostly to get my way) to find out what it is I’m supposed to be doing with my life but it is constantly changing. In the beginning I have gone from wanting to be a future Ignite leader, to helping plant other Ignites’ in other places to planting a church in Vermont and being a missionary in Spain, Norway and Angola. The most current idea that has been the most prominent and has been confirmed the most amount of times is something that came out of a project given to my quad by Mike Larkin. As of this moment my life mission is to finish Ignite, complete the rest of my college years at Life Pacific College and then move to Atlanta, Georgia and begin a non-profit organization called Doors of Love. It would be for teenage girls who are pregnant and are in a difficult situation where they are either homeless or something to that extreme and we would help them get a job, education and housing as well as the knowledge they need to begin to raise their child(ren) as well as gain healthy relationships. So that’s what I see as my life mission, as one that cannot be pinned down especially when I’m the one that is trying to say whats what. So I’m learning to just go with the flow, one day at a time, leaving my hands, heart and mind open to the things which God has for me.

Ministry Paper

Hey there everyone! sorry its taken me a while to update you on everything, its been crazy trying to get multiple papers done every week and then be able to digest everything and write it out to you in an understandable format. so i guess the closest thing for me to do is to show you some of the stuff i've been working on...so here is one of my many papers due this coming week: its our debrief on this semster serving at our church Sunday mornings... enjoy :]


For the past few months of this spring semester at Ignite I have been a in the C.I.A. which unlike the name it stands for Children In Action; just like in the CIA the kids are to be active, but in a different way they are to be active in their walk with Christ. I was a teacher’s assistant in the first and second grade Sunday school class at Lighthouse Garvanza. Every Sunday I would assist the teachers in getting the snacks ready, taking all the supplies for the classroom over to a building across the street and then set up our classroom with tables and chairs. Once the class started I would assist the teachers with the curriculum as well as helping the kids with their crafts and workbooks. Then when class is finished I would help put away the tables and chairs away as well as the craft supplies, workbooks and the containers we used for snack.

The two gifts that I was able to use during this time were serving and administration. I was able to use my gift of serving while I was helping teach the kids, while I was setting up the classroom, making the snacks, and helping setup and create the crafts and the games. I was able to use administration while I was helping organize crafts and games.

One of the things that God spoke to me about during this semester at Lighthouse was that not every church does church the same way as I am used to. I have been given the chance of seeing how people run services and how they work with their children’s ministry. It made it an even better opportunity because I was able to be in the midst of it more than once so I was able to get a pretty good look at how they structured everything. There were times where God was also teaching me was patience, because not only was this a new church, but the person in charge of C.I.A. was also new so he was beginning to setup the infrastructure of the entire program. There were times where we gave input and times where all we were able to do was just follow instructions given. During my time at Lighthouse God also spoke to me through the lives of the kids I helped teach. They were each very different in the way they were brought up, some were raised by a single parent or both, and one of the kids was in the foster care system so he was unable to be there every week. It was also hard because there didn’t seem to be any continuity between teachers and discipline because each set of teachers had a different view of how the discipline should be so. In all of this I have learned how to be flexible and patient and I am learning how to deal with each new system people have setup for their program.
In this internship I have interacted with the people the best I know how to, I have tried to learn all their names which is harder than I thought especially because I only got to see each person once a week. I have tried my best to get to know everyone that went to that church what God has done in their life. During the duration of this internship there were many people who extended such amazing hospitality even from the first week till the last week. They invited us to their homes for holidays, dinners, and weekends for real homemade Mexican BBQ’s and pool parties in the summer; and that was only in the first Sunday there! Recently we were told that if once we were done with our internship at the church and still went to the church he would take us out to lunch! I have been beyond blessed by this church, I have been to the pastor’s house for a BBQ, the pastors have taken all of us to lunch and invited us to their house for lunch on Easter. These people have the biggest hearts and such a gift for hospitality that its no wonder I felt welcome ever since I walked in those doors that first Sunday.

I learned that the way I’m used to something being done isn’t the only way that something can be accomplished, that others have a way to do something and its sometimes works better than the way that I am used to. So I have learned to be open with new ideas which is sometimes a hard area for me to grow in, but the good thing is, is that I am growing in being open to new ideas. I was also able during this time to give my past experiences and ideas for games and such as well as learning new games and such to remember for my home church. My view of ministry hasn’t changed; it has only grown bigger in knowledge as well as in experience. Again, I have learned that my way is not the only way nor is it always the right way to do something.
I believe that I did well in the area that I was serving in considering that every week there were between two and eight kids with two teachers and two helpers. I felt that that there were too many teachers per kids just because of space and what we exactly did but it was not the way I’m used to things being done but that’s what is so good about getting different points of view in ministry. There were days that I had a really hard time with the fact that I had nothing to do because of how small of a class there was with four teachers but that’s how the process of figuring out what to do with the amount of people has to deal with.

Outreaches & Updates

hey everyone sorry that i haven't updated you in a while, so heres the updates :)
Mission Trip Information:
they are buying plane tickets for all of us (who have the plane ticket money) on monday/ tuesday of this upcoming week; i have my plane ticket money, its estimated for about $700- $800 but the only part i have left that i need still before i leave is about $250. That would be covering the rest of my trip from food, transportation, field of minisry school fees (madrid, spain) as well as lodging. The total cost of the trip has been estimated at $3500, and as you can tell i have almost all of it; and that is only because God has so graciously given me a church family who loves and supports me (and Ignite) so much that they chose to bless me with the amount i have. Its mind blowing at times to see how much i have, at first i didn't realize that i had that much but once i found out i was beyond esctatic that i had that much. The only thing is, now that all of that money from the scholarship (church) is going toward my mission trip, i still have to raise money for this winter's trip during my second semester at Ignite. I have not gotten the exact amount of that yet but i know that i currently have none of it, for the mission trip or for the actual school aspect of it. So if you are reading this and God has placed on your heart to bless me in this journey that God is taking me on you can send money to:
Elizabeth Ricketts M-31
1100 W Covina Blvd
San Dimas, CA
91773
***you can write checks out to Ignite, but for IRS purposes please do not put my name anywhere on the check, thank you.***

Current Future Plans
At this point in my life I will be going to Ignite for the second semester, and then transferring straight into Life Pacific College for the remainder of the 4 years. I am not sure yet what i will be majoring in, but i believe i might major in Cross Cultural Studies (ie. missions). After that i am not sure what i am going to do but i can see myself studying abroad maybe in Norway, Spain, or Morocco, but i have no idea what God has in store for me so its all just up to Him to let me know. After that point i am not sure what i would be doing but i will share with you a pretty awesome thing that happened to me that might indicate what i will be doing sometime down the road, if its in God's plans for my life. So here it goes: The last Sunday that the Hattem's were in SB, CA (well at least pastoring) i was somehow talking with my mom as well as Pastor Jim Scott and we got on the subject of how Vermont has only one foursquare church and that there was something with 30% of VT thinking something negative about church or christianity but i honestly don't remember... But anyways, so he looks right at me points his finger in my face and says, "you will plant a church in Vermont. go tell Mike Larkin to get a team together and prepare you." and that was it. so i took it to heart and wrote it down on my hand and after service i went back up to him and showed him, he grabbed his wife, Melinda Scott and they prayed for me. I then showed Mike later that night back at school and told him the story and he told me that he will get me ready if i am willing and i said yes and he said okay we'll get you ready. so thats my story and so i don't know what God's plans for my life are now because its always changing so my current plan is just this: Live each day waiting for what God says and just go with the flow of what he is saying. that could mean that i could be a missionary somewhere as well as plant church(es) in vermont...who knows...well actually, God knows, so its all good.
Outreaches
Tonight (April 10) around 26 of the Ignite students went to something called The Oasis, in Hollywood. Its basically a place where inner city kids go on friday nights from 7-11 pm and hang out (listen to music, dance, play video games, air hockey, basketball, football...) theres a snack bar where you can buy sodas, chips, cookies, and candy... and then for about an hour theres someone who speaks (sometimes a testimony-like tonight a testimony from a woman who was a former gang member with an amazing story) and then they hang out more then its done. Its a lot of gang members, wanna be gang members, inner city kids, homeless kids, and more who go there, so its sometimes hard to get into conversations with them but when you do its great. I got to talk a little with some people who were just talking about relationships and then another girl we talked about ear/ facial piercings to find a common ground (which is always helpful). its hard but its fun once you get talking with them.

Spring Break!

So tomorow (saturday march 7th) i leave for santa barbara for spring break!!!
so exciting, just finished packing everything for the week... :]
i'll be home from the 7th through the 16th and then i'll be coming back the 22nd for the day and the 28th-29th for the installation and the goodbyes...so happy sad times but i'll be there!!
see you soon!!

How to Hear God- VisionS from the Lord

So there is this class (optional) on tuesday nights after dinner for an hour. it was my first time tonight and it was amazing. At first i didn't want to go, but i am sooo glad that i did. if you have ever wondered how to hear God then just be in total silence for 15 minutes and then pray for 30 minutes, thats what i did, its different though for some.
To guide our time the leader gave us 2 questions: "who have You (God) created me to be?" and "How can i become more like Christ?" And it took a while but then the Lord gave me this vision
I saw like a stadium packed, like a baseball field with people in every seat and covering the field, so much so that there was barely standing room. All of the sudden one person stand, raise their hands (like in victory) as if they are releasing chains (bondage). Then all of them stand and there are chains on their hands and each and everyone of them stand and the chains break and fall to the floor.
Then a little while later i was wondering who that first person was, and the Lord told me that it was me. and that "Their bondage will break just like yours will" in those exact words. I began to cry because it was the first time that i had heard the voice of God that clear; it was mind-blowing. Then when i was asking, who have You created me to be He said, "I (me) will be a powerful woman of God"... it was amazing, again he spoke to me with such clarity.

Since Tuesday night i have had 5 images/ visions...the first was the one above, then there was one of a man standing in a boat casting a line (fishing) out of a tiny boat and everytime he throws the line out he comes out with a fish, but the fish looks like a person. There are mounds of them (fish) in this tiny boat...Then i felt like the 'fish' were being given a second chance to redeem the missed opportunities by being taken out of the ocean (current situation).

Then the next was, i saw from someone's perspective standing facing a wall there were some missing pieces of it and they desperately wanted to be through the wall to the other side. through the missing pieces i could see a worn path with grass and a full tree with shade. then the person began to take one piece off the wall and it fell completely down and then it ended. i didn't get to see whether the person walked over the pieces to the tree or not, but it was like bondage being broken down and then freedom was at the tree but you still had to walk the path to the tree.

Monday (February 16, 2009) I saw a picture of what bondage looks like. It was a person standing and overtime b/c of actions/ lifestyle a weed very slowly attached itself to the person starting at the toes and moving up until eventually the person couldn't move. The only thing was it that they couldn't remember when it began so they didn't know how to stop it. When they were eventually cut off from the bondage it was the weed at their feet that was cut from the root and eventually the weed was dead and it fell off the person but it wasn't immediately. and the root was still there able to re-attach itself, so the person had the choice to walk away or to stay and allow it to come back , unless they allow God to yank out the root and destroy it to the source.

Right after that one i saw another. it looked like a sign that my quad has on our door, but in the vision i couldn't see what it said but i know it is important. It was a sign with words and overtime somehow someone used whiteout and did it over the words, but at such a slow pace the people didn't see the change even though they saw it everyday. And then one day once the sign was completely white, someone walked up and wondered what happened to the sign...This is how bondage is if you don't pay attention.

Drum Roll Please.........

alrighty. here i go. i'm about to tell you where i am going on my mission trip.



spain & morocco


how awesome is that?
so some tidbits of information about spain & morocco:
**Spain**
-> we will be staying in World Base
-> we will be learning about the Muslim culture for when we go to Morocco
-> we will be helping out with events and such at World Base, i.e. passing out Bibles and such

**Morocco**
-> we will be staying with muslim families in their homes
-> going to mosques
-> girls must have their heads covered
-> morocco is 99.8% muslim and .2% christian (catholic) so it will be more than difficult to spread the gospel
-> praying is just about the only thing we will be able to do

so basically please pray that we will be able to communicate the Gospel to others and that our faith in God will not be shaken (Islam/Muslim religion i have hear is scary close to Christianity in the truths but is missing stuff but people don't know that) and that when we are questioned where ever we are that God would meet us there and give us the words we need to be able to express why we follow Christ.

thank you
elizabeth

Foursquare Executive Council Summit

So Tuesday, January 27 Ignite was invited to a very exclusive meeting for the leaders of Foursquare. They were pastors, district supervisors and tops leaders. And they invited us, a brand new program of college students to join their meetings for the day! It was such an honor to even be considered to join the meetings, and 40 of us went for the day, and they paid for a gray hound bus, and gave us each $25 cash for dinner after it was all done! It was such a blessing, but one of the big things that i learned there was not exactly in the meeting but after. 10 of us went to P.F. Chang's for dinner and when we were just sitting waiting for dinner one of the attendee's, who happens to be a chair on the board of Life Pacific College, from the summit walked over to our table and talked to us for a minute and then said, "i want to bless you guys, so heres something to help pay for your dinner." and then he placed something on the table and walked away. We were shocked enough, but then when we saw what it was we were even more shocked. it was a $100 bill. we all thanked him profusely b/c we didn't realize exactly how much our dinner was going to cost us. it ended up costing us each $7 including the tip. it showed us just how much God provides for us, and this time in such a tangible amazing way.
After we had dinner we split up and 5 went to a movie and 5 went walking, we picked up one more person as the night went on and we went down by the pier and took some pictures. heres a few of them. thanks. enjoy!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

So our quad leader, Lauren was gone on a trip to San Francisco and the day she came back was her birthday. My quad decided it would be an awesome if we threw her a surprise party. We also needed a photo of our whole quad, all 8 of us, so we decided to dress up (crazy) and take photos. Below, are some of them, but the majority are on facebook. When we we threw the party it was just our quad and Lauren was so surprised that when she found us hiding in one of the rooms she screamed and backed into the ironing board that was hanging in the hall! Enjoy!

Here's me and my roommate, Diana

Here's our entire quad (sans Lauren of course)

Ceci, Me and LaQuisha

LaQuisha, me, and LaQuisha's roommate, Eliza