Author Archives: carrierstephen

When I hugged my Chilean friends goodbye, I knew it would probably be about three years before I saw many of them again, assuming I even go back to Chile as a missionary and not somewhere else. Three years sounds like such a long time when you’re saying goodbye to those you love. It somehowContinue reading “Continuing On”

If home is where the heart is, then I can’t really say I’m heading home. I’m not sure where I’m heading, exactly, but it’s not home. Yes, the United States is where I was born and raised, but it’s not home. If home is where the heart is, then, if anything, I’m leaving home. IContinue reading “Heading “Home””

“And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”-Genesis 41:52 There’s a pretty decent chance none of us will lose a mother to the childbirth of our younger brother, be sold into slavery by our other brothers, and be thrown intoContinue reading “The Land of My Affliction”

I just read a great quote on a friend’s Facebook wall. It said: “As we go forth into the coming year, let it be. . . with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays present irreparable things to us; it is true that we have lostContinue reading “Goodbye 2017. Welcome, 2018!”

While I’ve written fairly extensively about my trips to Peru and Bolivia, I haven’t written as much about Chile. To be truthful, the trips to Peru and Bolivia were easy to write about inasmuch as they were a timeline of events that naturally followed one another. Chile is different because there are some days filled withContinue reading “Happenings in Chile”

The sun had already risen and was shining brightly when I awoke the first day in Arequipa. Oh, no, I’ve overslept! It’s got to be at least 8:30 or something. I looked at my phone to see the time. 5:45 AM. What in the world? That was my first experience with an Arequipa sunrise! It comesContinue reading “Peru: Part 2 – A Week in Arequipa”

Apparently her name is Lasernita, which was news to me. It’s a play off of the last name of one of my friends from Bolivia, and I’m not sure why she was given that name inasmuch as he didn’t seem to have any special attachment to her. Since I never named her, I’ll go with it. I’llContinue reading “Lasernita – A Dramatic Retelling”

I couldn’t breathe. At least, not very well. And then I was staggering everywhere as I walked. What was happening? We were in La Paz, and as I came to find out, it’s anywhere from 10,650 to 13,250 feet above sea level, the world’s highest capital city. It was a little difficult to get oxygen, to say theContinue reading “Bolivia: Part 2 – We’re Going to the Jungle, You Say?”

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. -Ephesians 6:12 As I think back on my recent trip to Bolivia, I truly believe I was in a spiritual battle against one who tried to keepContinue reading “Bolivia: Part 1 – “I Can’t Let You on the Plane…””