Posted in General Posts by Heather Colbert on 5/7/2011
It is has been entirely too long since I have last posted a blog, and for that I apologize. It seems like the longer I go between posts, the harder it is to pick back up because so much has happened. I have so much to say about India, and I really want to post a couple different blogs about what the Lord did while we were there, but for now, I'll just give you a quick picture of what our month looked like...
We lived in a smaller town on the coast of India and worked in the slums. We went to stitching classes with women from the slums, taught nutrition classes, worked in the preschool, taught jewelry classes, shared our stories, listened to theirs, and fell in love with the beautiful women and children who lived in the community we were in. We also met women who owned shops on the beach where we lived, and my favorite moments where sitting in their shops with them, reading the Word, talking about life, praying... and maybe buying a thing or two :) Their hearts are beautiful and the love of Jesus flows straight out of them. We were so blessed to be able to share life with them for a month.
We are now back in Atlanta and it has been incredible. I was unsure about how a month of ministry in America would go, but the Lord has far exceeded any expectation I could have had. We are working with Nightlight - check them out! My team and I can't get over how much favor we have been shown. The ministries we have worked with the past four months have all been amazing and poured into us extensively.
I'll write about what we are doing this month soon, but for now I just want to share what the Lord's been speaking to me. I've been overwhelmed by God's grace over the past few months. It seems the more I realize my need for my Savior, the more amazing grace becomes to me. Grace is so beautiful that it's hard to find words to describe it... the fact that we are given the gift of relationship with our Father and eternity with Him when we did nothing to deserve it... really when we did everything NOT to deserve it. One of the biggest things the Lord has taught me over the past four months is that I cannot go through my day without being carried by His grace.
Grace points people to Jesus. Grace just doesn't exist in our world today. You get what you deserve. Once you screw up, it's all over. People who make bad choices are shunned. But what happens when grace enters the picture? When grace enters, Jesus enters and walls are broken down in hearts that people didn't even know existed. All of a sudden, there is a relentless love that flows from acts of grace and you have no choice but to recognize the supernatural love of Jesus. When you receive grace, something in your heart changes as you feel the beauty of the love of the Father. I want my life to be an overflow of that kind of love and grace that only comes from Jesus.
I find myself waking up and falling asleep in wonder at what the Lord has done. In wonder at this world that He has created. In wonder at the way that the Kingdom of Heaven is invading the earth. In wonder at the transformation that has taken place in my heart and in the lives of the people around me. In wonder that He has brought me to where I am now. In wonder that you all have believed in me enough to send me halfway across the world. In wonder that I am loved by the King. In wonder that He calls me Beloved.
In wonder that He offers me...
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Posted in General Posts by Heather Colbert on 2/24/2011
We have been in Pattaya, Thailand for a week and that doesn't seem possible. It's flown by so fast already and I know I won't be ready to leave this place. We are spending the next week and half in Pattaya and then we will head to Bangkok for the rest of our time in Thailand. Pattaya is a beach town in Thailand that is known for sex tourism.
We are spending our time here working with the Tamar Center. Check out their website to read a more detailed description of our ministry this month! The women from the Tamar Center are absolutely amazing and we are blessed to be working with them this month. Their center focuses on offering jobs to women who want to stop working in the bars/prostitution. They have a coffee shop/bakery and hair salon where women can work or they can make products to be sold such as jewelry or cards. They also offer English classes to women who want to learn. We have been helping with the English classes and doing bar outreach in the evenings. We do a lot of prayer walking and sitting down to talk with women who work in the bars. Hearing their stories breaks my heart, but I see the Lord bringing redemption to the women in Pattaya through the Tamar Center.
 This is a picture of the tourist area of Pattaya. Most of the streets near the beach are lined with bars.
This photo was taken on one of the streets lined with bars near the ocean.
Our second day in Pattaya we went on a prayer walk along the beach. I've never been in a place this spiritually dark and it was a bit overwhelming the first day. My heart broke for the women we passed who are selling their bodies to make ends meet. My heart broke that they feel this is the only way to provide for their families. My heart broke for the men we passed who come here to Pattaya for sex. My heart broke for the loneliness, the brokenness, the pain we saw in eyes and faces. And in the same moment, God reminded me that He brings beauty from ashes. He is still God and God is still here. His redemption is still being seen in Pattaya at the Tamar Center and through other ministries. And while it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by how huge the issue is here, it's worth it for one. It's worth it for one changed life. It's worth it if one woman walks away from work in the bars and comes to know Jesus. It's worth it if one woman feels the relentless love of her Heavenly Father.
When walking along the beach, I kept thinking about the Dominican and how everything became personal when the women who were in chains and needed freedom were people who were my friends. I was thinking about how passionate I am to see them find true rest and freedom in Christ. Everything we are doing to pursue moving back is worth it for one changed life... and it's the same for every woman in Pattaya and every woman in Africa and Europe and the States and at the coffee shop in line in front of us and at the grocery store. Every ounce of love we pour out is worth it for them. It's like Mother Theresa said, "small things with great love."
It's all so worth it. For one.
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 1:3
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Posted in General Posts by Heather Colbert on 2/16/2011
So I wrote this blog once, but it failed to save, so we shall see where it goes the second time around :)
We are currently in Thailand, which I will write more about soon, but I wanted to share about Cambodia. I loved Cambodia. The people are beautiful and so gentle-hearted. I loved watching the way they genuinely love each other. The kids are beautiful and their smiles melted my heart. Living life there just felt normal.
I also absolutely loved our ministry. We still can't share a whole lot of details about our time spent there, but it was amazing. The two women who started the program are phenomenal. Their hearts for the Lord and the girls they serve are insane. I learned so much from them just by watching and listening. They genuinely love and care about every person they come into contact with. They even served us in so many ways while we were there. They were constantly taking us to other ministries and sitting down to share with us about Cambodian culture. We spent most of our time there designing cards and jewelry, doing inventory, and helping out at their office doing whatever was needed. We were also able to make jewelry and hair clips with the girls and spend time with them doing arts and crafts and games. They are beautiful and God taught me so much about His heart through them. Though we weren't there long, I miss Cambodia and the people there already.
Cambodia was also a month full of lessons for me. God did an overhaul in my heart. A few years ago, I got a tattoo on my wrist that says, "Beloved." I loved it back that, but I can honestly say that it has continued to speak life to me and I love it more now than I did when I got it. God has been showing me His unfailing, unrelenting, and ever-pursuing love in ways I never understood before. He calls me Beloved and can love me no more or no less than He already does. He also calls you Beloved. He calls all of the girls on my team Beloved. He calls every Cambodian Beloved. And He calls every other person on this earth Beloved. And that changes the way I love people. It changes everything about how I interact with people because they are beloved children of the Holy One. So I've just been asking the Lord to grow unconditional love for people in my heart.
God's also been reiterating the theme of rebirth and new life. Not only are we given this ever precious gift of life, but grace also gives us the gift of new life every single day, every single moment. Grace tells us we can start over. That this rebirthing process is continual. And that Christ's love has the power to make ALL things new. I love it. And I pray I never forget the beauty of this gift.
This is one of my favorite pictures from a weekend trip. I love how Jesus lights up all darkness!
I love and miss each of you and am beyond grateful for your support of me. It means more than you could possibly now! You each are gifts in my life!
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Posted in General Posts by Heather Colbert on 1/26/2011
It's hard to believe we have been in Cambodia for over a week! We arrived almost two weeks ago and time has seemed to fly by. Sometimes it feels like we have been here forever and other times it feels as though it's only been moments. We spent the first few days with our entire squad, seeking the Lord and bonding as a team. It was wonderful to be back together with everyone again. I can't imagine a better community of people to do life with right now. I am beyond blessed to have been given this time with them. I love my team and squad so much!
Cambodia is BEAUTIFUL! I love the people and culture here so much! I just kept smiling last week because I didn't expect that the Lord would open up my heart so much for these people. They are absolutely beautiful and their eyes tell stories of a culture full of so much history--and I truly believe the Lord is going to bring so much restoration to this place. It's so evident in the ministries that are popping up everywhere and the way that hope and new life are springing up in Cambodia. I can't wait to see what the Lord continues to do here.
This is part of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.
I also forgot how much I love new cultures. I love languages, traveling, learning new things, finding my way around towns/countries, and really just life outside of the Western world. I feel like I was made for places full of crazy motorcycles, walking everywhere, deciding what to eat 5 minutes before a meal, always being outside, eating rice for every meal, 80 degree weather all the time, and living life with some pretty LEGIT people :) I feel blessed to be here.
Our ministry for the month is amazing! We can't say a whole lot about the organization for protection, but the women who run the ministry we are working with are awesome. Their hearts are beautiful and they have so much passion for seeing restoration in the lives of Cambodian women. We are working this month to help them reorganize projects they already have going and further develop new products for income generation. So what exactly does that mean? It means I get to spend my days designing jewelry, hair bands, cards, and any other creative product to make and sell. What a blessing from the Lord! It's pretty neat to see how He perfectly placed teams in the ministries where they needed to be. He is so good!
So that's a very general update of what we are doing right now... There is so much to write, but I'll save some for the next blog so I don't write a book on this one :)
This is Mindy (one of the girls on my team!) and I trying our best to eat noodles with chopsticks :)
I hope all of you are doing well! I miss you all and cannot possible explain how grateful I am for your support and love for me. I truly feel blessed and honored that you are in my life and we get to share it together!
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Posted in General Posts by Heather Colbert on 1/13/2011
The past few months have seemed to fly by like a whirlwind and it's hard to believe that I will be leaving for Cambodia in just a few days. I spent the majority of the month of December in the Dominican Republic, where I like to call home :) It was an amazing month full of people I love, good coffee, fresh fruit, good conversations, big smiles, lots of hugs, 2 Christmas Eve dinners, lots of pig-roasting, 60 amazing kids, and a whole lot more. Check my other blog (http://heathercolbert.blogspot.com) soon to read more about that trip.
I got back from that trip a couple weeks ago and I've been spending time with my family since then. It has been a good, but difficult season during this in between time in the States and I am excited to begin this new journey. These past few months have brought lessons that have been learned through valleys, but the Lord has taught me more about Him and my own heart than I could ever have imagined. It's been difficult, but worth it, to catch more glimpses of my Father and His heart for His children.
I am beyond blessed and ever so grateful for all of you... readers, prayer warriors, financial supporters, family, and friends. You each mean more to me than you could possibly know and I hope you know how thankful I am that you have joined me on this journey. I am thankful, my team is thankful, and there will be many more people in Asia that are thankful as well :)
As we head out soon and begin this new season, I'll be updating this blog and my other one as well! I love you ALL!
One of my favorite pictures from my time in the Dominican. My Dominican, American, and Canadian family :) This was the first Saturday I got to see the kids at the orphanage AND Coco's birthday!
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Posted in General Posts by Heather Colbert on 10/27/2010
May I introduce you to... Arise60 :) This is the group of wonderful girls that I get to spend this spring with! I could not be more excited about how God perfectly knit together these women and planned long ago that we would live life together for a few months! They are each so full of love and joy and the Spirit just bursts out of them. They have a fire in their bones to see sex-trafficking come to an end. They choose to see life in people and long to spread the freedom God has given them to others. I simply can't wait for the opportunity to share the Light alongside these girls!
Thanks to Ashley, we have an awesome group photo from the last day of training camp :) From left to right: Ashley, Mindy, me, Carolyn, Karina, and Carla.
The day before training camp ended, we chose our team names. We wanted our name to be something that truly encompasses our hearts' desires for this spring. And I'm pretty pumped about our name: Arise60. The 60 comes from Isaiah 60 so let me share a few sections of that chapter that I LOVE...
"Arise, shine, for your Light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn... No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting Light, and your God will be your glory. You sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more, the Lord will be your everlasting Light, and your days of sorrow will end." Isaiah 60
We wanted our name to speak something about who we are as a group and our passion is to see Light come to all dark places and bring freedom and life. When we read these verses, we knew it just fit with where our hearts are at. And so we became Arise60 :) I pray that we rise up as the women we are in Christ and that the freedom that comes from His love will raise up everyone we come into contact with!
And if you haven't listened to United Pursuit Band, you should buy all of their cds. Now :) Their lyrics will rock your world!
You should also check out this article...
My heart to see people in the Dominican freed from trafficking and prostitution and abusive situations is what led me to the world race in the first place. This article was put out in the Miami Herald this past weekend and gives a detailed picture of trafficking issues in Haiti and the Dominican.
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Posted in General Posts by Heather Colbert on 10/23/2010
Do you ever reallllllly wish you had copy-and-pasted your blog post before you clicked the save button and it deleted the whole thing?? Haha-that just happened. So we shall start over :) I am now back in Kentucky after getting to see some awesome friends in Georgia, going to training camp for the race, and paying a quick visit to Knoxville to see some sweet sisters. So much has happened in the past week, but I'll try and make this post brief.
If I had to sum up training camp in one word it would be FREEDOM.
Freedom from past mistakes, worry, self-regret, guilt, and shame. As believers, we are FREE in Christ! When Jesus died, He took all of our sin and past mistakes with Him to the cross. We are no longer chained to those things! Until this past week, I still had my fingers tightly grasped around my past and feelings of self-regret. At training camp, God freed me from that bondage through my brothers and sisters praying over me and speaking truth to me. I will not listen to the devil's lies that the past defines today. It does NOT and God has broken all of those chains! Praise the Father for that!
"Then you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free." John 8:32
Freedom from feeling pressure to appear perfect and have it all together.
Freedom to lay all of my hopes and dreams at the feet of Jesus. Even those for the Dominican and Esperanza Vision.
Freedom to be who I am in Christ and not care about what others think.
Freedom to dream BIG and view nothing as impossible.
Freedom to be consumed by the Holy Spirit and His direction in my life.
Freedom to take on my full identity as a daughter of the King.
Freedom to go with these passion-filled brothers and sisters to bring the hope of Christ to the world, to heal the sick, to break the chains of oppression, to bring light to some of the darkest places, and to see the Kingdom of God come on Earth as it is in Heaven!
I get to spend 4 months with these AMAZING people, sharing Jesus and His love with the nations! Ahh! I am so excited and couldn't be more blessed!
AND, I am so humbled and thankful for everyone who has been so supportive of me spiritually, financially, emotionally, mentally... the list could go on and on! You all bless me. Thank you so much for sharing in this journey with me. I love you all :)
check out my other blog here...
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Posted in General Posts by Heather Colbert on 10/6/2010
Expectations... these are just a few of my thoughts on this coming spring :)
One of the biggest things that I am excited about is growing spiritually. New places and new things and changes always seem to foster spiritual growth in my heart and I am looking forward to being out of my normal setting. I lived overseas for a year and a half, but honestly, it became even more comfortable for me than the States because it felt so much like home. I'm looking forward to experiencing new cultures and having the Lord teach me new lessons. God has been teaching me a lot recently about trusting in Him and His promises and I know that will only continue during my time on the race.
I'm also looking forward to some awesome community :) I love living life with other believers and being able to push each other towards knowing the Father more and looking more like His Son. Community is so critical for spiritual growth and I know that God is going to do some incredible things through the relationships we build on the world race.
I also expect to gain a whole lot of wisdom and knowledge from the ministries that we will be serving. I keep joking that I'm going to have to carry around a journal and pen wherever we go to constantly be writing down ideas, advice, etc. My dream is to open a safe-home for women and children in the Dominican Republic and I think that this trip is going to teach me more than I can imagine that will prepare me for the future.
And really, I expect that everything will probably be different than I think it's going to be. I'm thrilled to spend 4 months doing new things and serving in whatever way possible. I pray that the love of God that fills my heart will overflow so that people don't see me, but they see the Father and feel His deep love.
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Posted in General Posts by Heather Colbert on 9/28/2010
How was I called to missions and the world race? A question with a lengthy
answer that I'll try and sum up in a few paragraphs :)
Before my sophomore year of college, I was never really interested in
missions. I thought I knew exactly how my life would look ten years in
the future and it didn't include being in a different country. But
shortly into my second year at Johnson, I felt the Lord calling me to do
missions for the summer. I researched lots of different missions
programs, prayed He would open and close doors, and ended up in the Dominican
Republic serving with Orphanage Outreach (check them out!) for two months at an orphanage. That summer changed my life. I
fell in love with God and His heart for other cultures. I went home a
different person and left half of my heart in the Dominican. I had two
years left of school, but I knew the Lord wasn't done with me in the DR.
That winter I went back for a week and the next summer I spent a month
there. When I came back to Johnson for my senior year of college, I knew
without a doubt that God was going to take me back for an extended period of
time. Though I wrestled and fought about going back by myself for such a
long time, I knew that I couldn't turn my back on plans that God had so clearly
laid in front of me. So I graduated in May of 2009 and moved back to the
Dominican 2 weeks later. The year and a half that I spent there was the
biggest blessing in my life. I loved every second of it and God taught me
more than I could have imagined. Each day I seemed to fall more in love
with the people, their culture, their language, their needs, and their hearts.
The more I was there, the more I could never imagine leaving.
This is Manuel, ratoncito, mi hijo... one of the loves of my life in Jaibon. Around Christmas of '09, God began placing human trafficking on my
heart after I met some incredible Dominican women that changed my perspective
on everything. These women opened up their lives to me, shared stories,
and treated me as though I'd been a part of their family my whole life.
We laughed together and cried together and it was through them and their
stories about their families and friends that opened my eyes to the issues of
prostitution and sex trafficking in the Dominican. After a lot of
research and having a new perspective on what was happening right in front of
my face, I realized that I couldn't not do anything about this issue that
enchained so many people. God broke my heart for Dominican women and it
was then that I knew I would spend the rest of my years attempting to bring
hope and restoration to their lives. I began praying over this dream of
hope and a way out for these women and God began doing crazy things. It
seemed like everyday He would place something in my lap that acted as a resource
for me in some way shape or form. Throughout the spring and summer I
began to dream about what it would look like to have a safe-home in the
Dominican for women coming out of prostitution, sex tourism, and sex
trafficking. A place where they could receive the love of Christ, be
counseled, be mentored, learn job skills, and eventually be helped back on
their feet in a new line of work with the hope of Christ embedded deeply in
their souls. I prayed and dreamt and planned and knew this was something
so much bigger than I could even imagine.
This is Nena... one of the smartest and sassiest 7 year-olds I know. At the end of the summer, I still wasn't sure how everything was going
to play out. I only knew that I felt called to devote my life to this
dream. In early September, I came across The World Race Human Trafficking
Edition and my mouth dropped open. I had originally heard about the world
race over three years ago and had wanted to go so bad, but I knew it wasn't the
right timing. When I saw that there was a version of the world race
devoted to exactly what my passion is, I knew that it was a sweet, little gift
from the Lord. My first reaction was to say "No." I
didn't want to be away from the Dominican for almost a year which is what this
would mean. But the peace and excitement and certainty I felt about the
trip from the moment I read about it assured me that the world race was exactly
what God had planned next for me. I had always talked about how I wanted
to go to Thailand or Cambodia for a couple of months and learn from
organizations who are already doing what I want to do in the Dominican and this
trip is going to BOTH of those places AND India AND a month in the States!
I could not have thought up a better opportunity for myself if I had
spent days doing so.
So
I am beyond excited for the next couple of seasons in my life... spending some
time visiting with family and friends while fundraising like crazy and mapping
out things for the eventual non-profit that will be started in the Dominican
Republic... heading out for the world race in January and gaining so much
wisdom about ministry in human trafficking... and moving back home to the
Dominican sometime around next summer to begin the journey of opening a
safe-home for women in a place that so desperately needs it. That's my
dream... to see Esperanza (hope in Spanish) being brought to the Dominican
Republic. Y por eso, Esperanza will be the name of the home when it one
day opens its doors :) If you would like to read more about the journey of
this past year and about my dreams for Esperanza, check out my other
blog... http://heathercolbert.blogspot.com.
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