Abby in Brazil

    It was my brother's 27th birthday on Wednesday. This blog is dedicated to him.      Since I’ve been living abroad for the past three years, I've missed celebrating my family's birthdays. But what's more important is the love we have for each other and I'm grateful for technology. We can still have face time family time at least three times a month!      When growing up, my brother was always the naughty goofy one, the one that people loved to hang out with. He has a natural leadership vibe. People looked up to him and wanted to follow him. Since we were young, it was always the two of us. We are only one year and three days apart. We grew up as friends and siblings! There were many times I got angry with my brother. I don't remember what exactly I was mad about, but I remember wanting to punch him or give him the silent treatment. Yet, neither of those two things happened because at the end of the day, I still love him very much.    ...

“What we need to be assured of is not that we possess an excellent system of doctrine and ritual, but that the gift of the Holy Spirit is a reality.”  – Roland Allen, 1868-1947, Missionary to China     Needlessly to say I had an amazing time in Nepal. It was amazing how I was able to come into contact with Pastor Daniel. It was back in June when we got in touch with each other. If you followed the news, Nepal had a massive protest in September. We almost didn't go. I had to convince my team members that God has something for us in Nepal. Thank God we went. Because during this trip, God answered many prayers.      We stayed with Pastor Daniel, serving at his church and preschool in one of the largest slums in Kathmandu. We were able to take local transportation and the experience was amazing. I absolutely loved it. I really felt like I was in a movie. With the crowdedness in the bus, the music, the sound of the horn, the way the bus would continue to mo...

We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink.   1 Corinthians 12:13     Our time in Thailand was amazing. We were in Pattaya for a week, where we visited a Christian International School and met many children from different nations. There was a Christian family who escaped their country because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Their lives are truly inspiring. At the school, we did a short play, sang and danced, shared Bible stories, and played many games with the kids. I love their humor, energy, and how they were just excited to do anything. Not all of them were Christians, but we had the freedom to share God's love with them. The founder of the school has an amazing testimony about how God called him to open a Christian school after teaching in Thailand for years. The school is called Odyssey International School. It is in P...