Around the World in 53 days.

My travels started in...
Colchester England, then to Stansted Airport England, then to Lauingen Germany, then back to Stansted Airport England, then to Colchester England, then to Heathrow Airport London England, then to Atlanta Georgia, then to Miami Florida, then back to Atlanta Georgia, then to Houston Texas, then to Salt Lake City Utah, then to Los Angeles California, then to Pasadena California, then back to Los Angeles California, then to Sydney Australia, then to Melbourne Australia, then back to Sydney Australia, then to Los Angeles, then to Salt Lake City Utah, then back to Houston Texas, then to Atlanta Georgia, then to Stuttgart Germany, then Lauingen Germany, then back to Stuttgart Germany, then to Atlanta Georgia, then Raleigh North Carolina, then to Atlanta Georgia, then to Pensacola Florida, then to Defuniak Springs Florida, then to Jacksonville Florida. And then............ to be continued :)
Phew!

more...

Bye Bye Tonsils

11 days ago I had a tonsilectomy and WOW was it painful! I stayed overnight in the hospital; which suprisingly wasn't so bad. I pretty much slept and occasionally turned on the television, but found that I couldn't wear the earphone because my ears would start to ache. lol.
Since then, I've been slowly getting better. I've been at home most of the time, which could drive a person mad, but I've been ok. I've watched a lot of mindless television and slept. I still can't eat most solid foods but I'm managing cereal at the moment. Throat still hurts a little bit but not as bad as the first week. It was such a bizarre feeling not being able to swallow. I'm still taking my medications, which helps SO MUCH!
I hope this week I'll feel even better. I'm looking forward to not getting sick anymore with tonsilitis. Horray for no tonsils!

Let It Rain

I'm meditating on this passage from the Bible right now.

Luke 5:31-32
Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Thanks Jesus for healing this sick person right here. Amen.

The following song is by Misty Edwards called Waiting for Tonight.




I love these lyrics.

Oh I'm waiting in this desert; just waiting for the rain
Oh but I won't leave this desert; until I see the rain
And I'm waiting in the wilderness; of promises yet fulfilled
Oh but I won't leave this wilderness, until I see the rain

I'm waiting for the rain
Oh I'm waiting for the rain
I'm just waiting for the rain
Oh I'm waiting for the rain

For I have heard the story told, of a prophet who prophesied
Of the rain that would come, in the middle of a drought
Of a sign of the rain to come.
Though years have come and years have gone
We're still waiting for the rain
Oh but i can see the clouds gathering now
Are you ready, are you ready for the rain?

Open up the heavens and let it rain let it rain let it rain
Open up the heavens and let it rain let it rain let it rain
Open up the heavens and let it rain let it rain let it rain
Open up the heavens and let it rain let it rain let it rain
Let it rain God, let it rain let it rain let it rain.

If You Say Go

Tonight I was very moved by a video that was shared at our leadership meeting. The video was about five missionary families who moved to Ecuador to evangelize to the Quichua Indians and eventually the dangerous Huaorani Indians in the1950s. Some of you may know the story.
The men Jim Elliott, Ed_McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and Nate Saint made contact from their airplane with the Huaorani Indians using a loudspeaker and a basket to pass down gifts. After several months, the men decided to build a base a short distance from the Indian village, along the Curaray River. There they were approached one time by a small group of Huaorani Indians and even gave an airplane ride to one curious Huaorani whom they called "George". Encouraged by these friendly encounters, they began plans to visit the Huaorani,without knowing that George had lied to the others but their plans were preempted by the arrival of a larger group of 10 Huaorani men, who killed the five missionaries on January 8 1956. Many years later with the work of the families of these missionaries ,the Huaorani Indians would come to know Jesus.
It's an amazing story. They've made 2 movies of it which you can rent....Documentary: Beyond the Gates of Splendor and a film entitled End of the Spear.

Last summer before coming to England, I was at training in North Carolina and we watched a video about the lives of these missionaries and the story of the Huaorani Indians. It was very moving. Tonight I was reminded of what I had seen last summer. But more importantly I was reminded of the reason why I am in England. I was reminded of the calling God has placed on my life.
And tonight I cry to Jesus, "Where you say go, I will go. I will step onto the water and fix my eyes on you. May that always be my hearts desire to follow you, to proclaim your name. To love you with my whole being and to love the people of this world."

I pray that you too will be inspired by watching this video. It brings me to tears each time I watch it, and that's a good thing :)

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. -Jim Elliott

El Camino de Santiago

On September 17, I journeyed to Spain with eleven other people walking El Camino de Santiago. We started in Madrid, where we did a little bit of sightseeing for 2 days and then we got on a bus to Sarria, 7 hours away. Where we started our 70 mile walk to Santiago. It was truly an experience I will never forget. Spain is a beautiful country and I enjoyed meeting new people and practicing Spanish. We have many conversations with people from Spain, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Canada, and even Korea and Australia!
Here are some pictures from our trip.



The Pilgrims...
Friends we met along the way...
Almost there...We've reached Santiago!

My first birthday in the UK

It's been a while since I've updated this blog. So sorry for that!!

Last week I celebrated my first birthday in England. It was amazing! I just want to thank everyone for all of their wonderful emails, cards, gifts, phone calls, texts, greeting, etc. Thank you thank you for making it so special.

Here are some pictures from my two parties that were thrown.
xoxo
Chrissy


Paul announcing to DNA that it was my birthday. He made me stand on a chair!



At the beach...not at all like Miami. It was cold!

The stairs and an ambulence on a saturday.

My trip to the hospital....the short version....

I slept over Charity's house friday night. Saturday morning I was about to walk down the stairs when I slipped on the top step, fell back, hit my head and slid all the way down on my back. I tried to grab on to something and tore up the skin on my fingers.
I remember I tried to get up after I fell and Naomi was standing next to me but when I stood up I said "I'm going to faint, I'm going to faint." And then she caught me, the next thing I remember I was sitting on the stairs. I couldn't see anything and I couldn't really hear and I had a hard time breathing. The girls said I was out for a couple of minutes. I was really sleepy. I just wanted to go to sleep. I wanted to vomit and I didn't want to open my eyes because everything was blurry and really bright.
Penny (Charity's Mom) called the ambulence and I was taken to the hospital. I remember I kept laughing and I told the girls to take a picture of me. (Yeah I dont know what drug I was smoking lol)
The events are a little fuzzy in my mind but of what I remember I know I kept laughing in the ambulence and at the same time I kept saying I was going to vomit.

I"m pretty sure at first when I fell I had a concussion. I have a bump on my head now, luckily I have a lot of hair and you would never know that I had a bump under there!

At the hospital they took x-rays of my back and thank the Lord I had no fractures.
Huge miracle considering I have had 3 slipt discs and 12 procedures done on my back, including having fluid removed from one of my discs.
The fact that I walked away with bruises on my back is a huge praise. I should honestly be worse.
I have two nasty looking fingers that are all bandaged up now, but other then that I'm fine.

Janie had the sudden urge to pray right around the time that I fell. She said it got so strong that she had to go out for a walk and she just kept praying until she got the call that I was in the hospital. Then her and Dave came over.

God was totally with me that day. I'm so thankful he protected my spine from being broken.

Thank you to Charity and Naomi who spent the whole day with me as I laughed and cried in pain and for their willingness to catch my vomit. I love you girls!

Today I'm in more pain then I was before but I guess it has to get worse before it gets better? Or at least I'm hoping thats the case.
Lots of prayers!

Thanks everyone!

Much Love
Chrissy

(picture taken by Charity after I apparently repeatedly asked for my picture to be taken.)

What would I do without my Macbook?

Yesterday morning when I turned on my Macbook, I got a picture of a file with a question mark in it and it was blinking. It was not good news for Chrissy! My computer has been telling me for a while that my "start up disk" is almost full and yesterday when I saw that picture I knew I had maxed up my hard drive! So I called Apple but they told me I needed to go to a store, there was nothing I could do on my own. Unfortunately the nearest Apple Store is in London. Ugh! That's an hour from Colchester by train. So this morning I headed into London with my macbook.
Now what was so wonderful about this trip waa that I got to read this book called "The Forgotten Ways" by Alan Hirsch. Dave and Janie asked me to read the first part of it. The book is about church planting and it takes a look at two of the greatest Apostolic movements in history - The early church and the church in China and how they have impacted the world. The question is then asked "How did they do it?" And that's just a slice of what this book is about.
It excites me because that's what I want to be a part of. I want to be a part of a movement. And I believe I already am and I'm just now hitting the tip of the iceburg here in England.
God's been doing some really cool stuff in me lately. He's been stretching me and teaching me. It's almost like an internal thing, because sometimes I dont even know what he's doing but I get these feeling in the pit of my stomach. It gets so strong that I literally want to vomit. It's not that I'm scared, it's that I'm excited and I know I'm in this great waiting time. I'm in this waiting time for what the next chapter of my life is and I don't know what is and I dont know the people that will be in that chapter, but I know it's coming soon! I can smell it in the air, I can smell the waiting in the air, it's crazy. But as I'm waiting for whatever this is, I'm learning and I'm growing and doing so much.
So anyway, my trip to London was not an eventful one, I didn't see any sights or have a day off. I got my computer fixed and went back home. But the exciting part was what I learned today thru my reading and what God is springing up in me.
I'm being inspired continuously and growing passionately for people..... for church....... for a movement!

Set the World on Fire

I'm screaming out this song at the moment, it's my anthem today...... Enjoy!



I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com. More colors.


I wanna set the world on fire
until it’s burning bright for you
it’s everything that I desire
can I be the one you use?

I .. I am small but
You .. you are big enough
I .. I am weak but
You .. you are strong enough
to take my dreams
come and give them wings.
Lord with you
there’s nothing I cannot do.
nothing I cannot do.

I wanna feed the hungry children.
and reach across the Father’s land
and tell the broken there is healing
and mercy in the Father’s hands.

I .. I am small but
You .. you are big enough
I .. I am weak but
You .. you are strong enough
to take my dreams
come and give them wings.
Lord with you
there’s nothing I cannot do

Take my dreams
come and give them wings.
and Lord with you
theres nothing I cannot do.

My hands, my feet
my everything
my life, my love
Lord use me.

I wanna set the world on fire
wanna set the world on fire.

Take my dreams
come and give them wings.
Lord with you
there’s nothing I cannot do
oh no ..
take my dreams
come and give them wings.
cause Lord with you
there’s nothing I can’t do.
nothing I can’t do.

I’m gonna set the world on fire.
set the world on fire

Brighton

This past weekend I had a chance to go to Brighton to visit my friend Sarah. I had such an amazing time. I felt really refreshed and renewed after I came back from there. That sunday morning I went to Sarah's church and it was amazing. Her church is home to some huge christian song writers like Matt Redman, Stuart Townend and Paul Oakley. The worship was so good. There weren't all these flashing lights and there wasn't a huge band or anything. Stuart Townend led worship and I loved it so much because of the humility that he had. Leading worship is a huge task and a huge honor. I've learned that very much these last months as I have had the opportunity to lead worship at DNA. It's not a task that should be taken lightly. I believe one of the things a worship leader has to have is humility when they get up on stage to lead the body of Christ. There is something so sacred in leading people to the presense of God and I was just really humbled in seeing that in this worship leader. Good stuff!

Here are some pics from my time in Brighton.

What a beautiful sunset!


Sarah and I on our way out to dinner.


Me, Sarah, and Beth having dinner at Wakamamas.


Stuart Townend leading worship.

When the storms of life rush in...

Tonight I opened up my Bible to the book of Nehemiah. Not for any particular reason, I just happen to open the Bible to it.
What caught my eye was something I had written on the top of the page.
It says.."When the storms of life rush over me, I will not let them in."
That got me thinking...

Currently I've been under a lot of stress. It's not that there is anything bad happening in my life, it's just that I've been very busy at the moment and my life is continuing to be in a state of transition. It's all completely normal but sometimes I find myself saying outloud, "Lord I just can't."

Do you ever get that way?

I find myself with my arms up in the air saying "I can't"! Then there are always tears behind that "I can't". Or sometimes I'll say something like "God move, or move me, cause I can't." At least there is honesty in the prayer, you know? If I can't fall naked before God, make of heaven and earth, and be honest with him; then who can I be honest with?


I think we have two choices when we are going through hard times, or stress or whatever it might be.
Either you fight or run away.

I guess I could run... but I choose to fight.
Sure life is tough right now, but what can I do? Either I can choose to let the storms of life rush over me and engulf me OR I can choose to be honest and deal with it.

So maybe this is some sort of statement of declaration or something, I don't know.

I love my life right now, it's hard, but I love it and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else then right here fighting through the stress.

Besides I'm not alone.
It's like what a good friend of mine told me the other night. We were talking about the "Great Commission" in the book of Matthew, and she said the last thing Jesus said to the disciples before He ascended into heaven was "and surely I am with you always till the very end of the age."
So wonderful to hear that the last words Jesus said to his disciples was "I'm with you".

So when the storms of life rush over me, I will not let them in, I will fight, I will persevere, because I am NOT alone.
And that makes all the difference.

Amen.

The Lord Answers

Two nights ago I couldn't sleep so I opened up my bible and started to read. I read this chapter in Joel 2 that I felt was really prophetic to where I am now in my life.
I was asking the Lord to answer me as I was praying about different things in my life and he gave me this word. The funny thing I noticed yesterday was that the passage is entitled "the Lord's Answer".

As I continue to read this passage I am more and more reminded of God's provision in my life. I feel like God has been saying to me "rejoice in me child, don't be afraid, I will satisfy you, I will fill you, I am already providing."
Thank you Jesus for your holy words.

The LORD's Answer

18 Then the LORD will be jealous for his land
and take pity on his people.
19 The LORD will reply [a] to them:
"I am sending you grain, new wine and oil,
enough to satisfy you fully;
never again will I make you
an object of scorn to the nations.

20 "I will drive the northern army far from you,
pushing it into a parched and barren land,
with its front columns going into the eastern sea [b]
and those in the rear into the western sea. [c]
And its stench will go up;
its smell will rise."
Surely he has done great things. [d]

21 Be not afraid, O land;
be glad and rejoice.
Surely the LORD has done great things.

22 Be not afraid, O wild animals,
for the open pastures are becoming green.
The trees are bearing their fruit;
the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.

23 Be glad, O people of Zion,
rejoice in the LORD your God,
for he has given you
the autumn rains in righteousness. [e]
He sends you abundant showers,
both autumn and spring rains, as before.

24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

25 "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm [f]—
my great army that I sent among you.

26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
and you will praise the name of the LORD your God,
who has worked wonders for you;
never again will my people be shamed.

27 Then you will know that I am in Israel,
that I am the LORD your God,
and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.

I want you to know....it's COLD!

Winter is here and boy is it cold! This morning as I stepped outside of my door; I looked towards the road and saw a thin sheet of ice on the sidewalk. I immediately was excited. It's been a really long time since I've seen anything frozen on the ground outside. We don't get frozen roads in Miami!
It was such a beautiful day today, despite being 30 degrees.
The sun was out and the sky was baby blue. It was wonderful!

I took a picture of the concrete along with a picture of where I live.

What a great Thanksgiving!

I had the best thanksgiving day I ever could have asked for away from home. There were 20 people that showed up at my home! It was so wonderful. Lots of food and lots of fun! Thank you to all of you who came. You were a blessing to me! :)

Thank You

Today I just wanted to write a prayer of thanksgiving.
I feel the Lord is working deep within me, and today I just want to praise Him for what He's been doing in my life lately.
I Hope today my prayer can encourage you to lift your hands up and thank God for what He is doing in your life as well.

Unexpected, Unexplainable, like a strong wind you reveal what lies hidden.
You pick me up from the deepest pit.
Your timing so perfect.
If I wait upon you... if I give you my heart... if I give you my everything... If I am broken before you... you come and you lift me.
You fill me with peace that transends all understanding.
You Oh Lord, are great and powerful.
You delight in me.
You favor your child.
You delight in seeing me live in freedom.
Thank you for your good and perfect will.
Thank you for allowing me to see glimpses of your holy hand when I earnestly seek your holy face.

I am a Chef

I just wanted to share with you that I have reached a landmark in my life.
I, Chrissy Campos, made fish and chips! Yes I actually cooked a meal and it came out lovely.

Someone please applaud me!

Fingers crossed on the next meal I attempt to cook!

Sort it out girl!

The daylight hours are getting shorter now as winter aproaches, my body clock has been getting confused on what time it REALLY is.

"The honeymoon period" of being in England is over. It hit me like a slap in the face on wednesday.
I...now... live...here. That realization was a bittersweet one.
It's been a little intense and sureal these last days. Nothing bad, all good, just hard stuff to swallow.

I miss home, I miss my family, I miss my friends, I miss speaking spanish, I miss my car, I miss americans!

Sometime I feel it's hard to sort out my brain. What am I thinking? What am I doing? Where am I going? What am I saying?
I have all these questions rolling around in my head and lately I've had so much going on that I haven't had a chance to process and sort out my head. At times I've often felt I haven't been able to communicate my thoughts outloud either. Do you ever had those days where you just feel completely stupefied? I've had a couple of those days lately!

There is this song by Craig David, that is completely unrelated to this topic, but the words fit with my emotions ..."I feel fantastic, bombastic, ecstactically astounded, How a girl can really lose her brain, I feel surrounded, confounded, Emotionally dumbfounded."
I think that about wraps it up!

Today, however I've had time to think and breathe and be on my own. I went on a run and let all my stress out, it was wonderful!
I know all these emotions are normal, I'm in major transition. I just need to remember to breathe!

One day at a time- that is enough. One day at a time....

Living in the UK

I realize I've been behind in posting new blogs. Forgive me, I will try to be better at blogging.

It's almost been a month since I moved to Colchester. I can't believe how fast the time has gone.
I love it here. Sometimes you wait for something for so long and then when it finally comes you realize the joy there was in waiting. That's how I feel now. This has been such a long journey to come to this point in my life and now the anticipation is over. In ever way possible I am in the right place in my life: spiritually, physically, emotionally and mentally. There's so much joy when you are right with God. So much joy when you are in his will. My prayer is for all of you to come to that place wherever the Lord may lead you. There is so much joy!

I've been busy these last weeks.

Yes I'm still adjusting! It will still take time, but I'm adjusting very well.
The hardest things for me to get use to are the weather and the language. Yes, I said the language!
It's cold over here. It's getting in the 40s now. That's a little to cold for a girl from Miami!
I do sometimes have a hard time understanding what people are saying. I find myself constantly asking the question,"What?"
I'm trying to remember new words like cell phone is mobile, pants are trousers, and washing dishes is the washing up. I'll get the hang of it one of these days!
Another thing I've noticed is, instead of people asking "How are you?" Many times they ask "Are you alright?" It was strange at first hearing this, because I kept thinking, "why does everyone keep asking me if I'm alright? Do I look sad or something?" Ha! No I've now realized they are just asking how I am doing.

Here are some pictures from my time here so far. If you would like to see more you can check out my facebook albums England Life Part 1 and England Life Part 2
http://tccfl.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050436&l=ff4f5&id=75308360
http://tccfl.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050217&l=dcbef&id=75308360

Keep in touch friends!

Be a Radical

My friend David Steele has stepped up the call to be an ordinary radical for Jesus. I spent some time with him on tuesday. The Lord has lead him to church plant in the town of Luton, near London. He's got no partners in Luton to do this but he's heard the call to build a church community. So exciting! As I visited David in Luton, I could feel the oppression and darkness of that place. Dave Beales and I prayed with David and we had some time of reading scripture together. We will be visiting David every week to encourage him and pray with him as he waits and sees where God will lead.
I asked David to write a little something to put on my blog to share with you guys.


This is what being a radical is about. Are you living as a radical?


"This summer I believe the Lord asked me to leave my church and plant a church in Luton out of DNA Networks. I didn't understand why and I fought with the whole thing for weeks but I have learned that to truly have the fear of the Lord is to obey him even when it doesn't make sense. I have taken the first step which was leaving my church in Luton. This was difficult because I saw lots of fruit through student mission with that church last year. I am now here, with a willing heart to do whatever God asks of me... I don't yet know what it will entail but I am praying for a move of the Holy Spirit that will bring at least one other passionate person alongside me and go from there. Where two or more are gathered in HIS name I know the Holy Spirit will be with us. Please pray for motivation - I am learning that it is more difficult to be motivated when you don't have a whole group of passionate people around you. Please also pray that my relationship with Father God will go deeper than ever as I look to him for guidance each day. I praise God that Chrissy is here in the UK now and is able to visit me weekly for the next few weeks to bring encouragement and words of prophecy along with Dave Beales (leader of DNA Networks)."


Please right now where you are say a quick prayer for David as he starts this new journey.

It's been a long time coming....

I was talking with Dave the other day and we were talking about DNA and church planting and all sorts of stuff. Some really cool answered prayers were revealed while we were talking.
Allow me to share...

In 1998 The Lord called Dave and Janie Beales to church plant in Colchester. The vision of DNA Networks was realized. They prayed for laborers to come.
In 1998 I went on a mission trip to the Bahamas. I heard the Lord whisper to me to do overseas missions. I knew what the Lord wanted by I rejected the idea and put it away.

In the summer of 2001 Jon Shuler, friend of the Beales from the USA and at the time worked for NAMB (North Anglican Mission Board), partnered with them and prayed for field missionaries to come and help in church planting in Colchester.
In the summer of 2001 while in Germany, my heart changed and I accepted the Lord's calling for me to do overseas missions.

Is this a coincidence?

I think not.

How cool to see that the Lord's plan for me to be in England has been in motion long before I ever realized this is where I would be.

Remember that the Lord is going before you and He is going after you. He's got a plan for you, way before you'll ever see it.

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11