Honduras- Work Hard. Play Hard

On January 26-30, I had the privilege of representing Healing Place Church in Honduras. My mentor, Ms. Claudia Berry and I, visited the team of Healing Hands Global. It was incredible to see the work God was using them for in the village of Rio Viejo. We had the opportunity to come alongside the Williams and Youngers to help strategic plan for their 2011 ministry year.
God has given Ms. Claudia a gift of helping ministries to be more effective in their work through strategic thinking/planning. I was just along for the journey. It was inspiring to see that after three days of questions, discussions, goal setting, org charts, budgets, and job descriptions, this team had a vision and direction for 2011 that was Spirit led. It reminded me so much of the scripture "The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps." -Proverbs 16:9. We had come up with a great plan, but knew that only God would make this dream possible. He was guiding and directing our every conversation and we knew that as we surrendered the year to Him, His will would be done.

Working hard in the HHG headquarters

Please continue to keep the team of Healing Hands Global in your thoughts and prayer, and to learn more about the work they are doing in rural Honduras, you can check out their website.

From Left to right: Claudia, Wendy, Candy (visiting nurse), Colleen, Behind: Mark & Heather, Front: Rachel (daughter of Williams), and missionary friend of the Williams (Martin was taking the picture).

After much work and deep thinking, we felt it was time for some much needed fun. So our last day there was for Zip-lining. This was a bucket list item for Ms. Claudia, but I was happy I had done it just a few months earlier in Baton Rouge because to me, it was nothing short of terrifying. Once we got settled into the harnesses, it turned out to be incredibly fun. Below are some pictures of our fun in the rainforest.

Flying through the rainforest

My Surprise Visit Home!

I had the chance to go home last weekend to Havertown to surprise my mom for her birthday. It was such an incredible weekend! My mom was so shocked to see me- the look on her face was priceless. I visited family and friends, ate good food and had a lovely weekend. Here are some pictures from the fun filled time.

Rachel picked me up from the airport. She is so Euro :)

Had lunch with my grandparents (mom's side). Aren't they adorable?!

Visited Mark in his apartment. What a boy's house?!

Had tea with my grandparents (dad's side). My grandpa is recovering from knee surgery.

Spent time with Vince as he is recovering from hip surgery. Check out that Saints cap!

Cooked dinner with mom and Joyce. So delicious!

My 2009 Christmas "Letter"

Every year around this time I get really creative and ambitious Christmas ideas like making every gift, having a Pottery Barn decorated home, and writing a Christmas letter for all my friends and family. But by Dec 26th, I look back only to reflect that I scrambled to buy gifts at the last minute due to lack of time, my home looks like it does every other day of the year but with a tree in the center of the living room, and I never did write that Christmas letter. So to save face, I have put these ambitious goals aside and realized that this year I just want to spend time with family and relaxing instead of feeling guilty about my unfinished ideas.
So instead of that letter that I never did write, this year I have opted for the ever tech-savvy Christmas Blog Post. Here goes:


Dear Family and Friends,
What a whirlwind of a year this has been for us! They say that as you get older the years go by faster- and as I entered my "late- 20s" I have found that to be true. 2009 just flew by. In January I took time to really pray and fast about what God had for me this year. One of my prayers was to travel more than ever before and boy, did He fulfill it!

In February Robert and I went skiing in Taos, NM with our friends John and Mary. It was my first time skiing in my adult life and I so enjoyed it. Robert is a pro at it, hitting the double black diamonds whenever he had the chance, while I took a day of lessons and then kept to the greens and accidentally encountered a blue once. It was a wonderful but brief vacation for us. When we got back, we celebrated the birth of Graham Ray, Lynn and Shaun's first baby. He is just adorable and growing faster than ever.

As spring rolled by, I had the honor to participate in the wedding of our friends Katherine and Blake in early April, which was absolutely beautiful. We also enjoyed Easter with both my mom and Robert's parents.

During the summer, my prayers were answered. I went to Africa for three weeks and the Amazon interior of Brazil for 9 days. No words can desribe the emotions of these two trips, though I did blog earlier this year about some reflections from Africa. If you would like more details about these two unforgettable experiences, just give me a call.

In the early fall, I had the privilege of attending the wedding celebrations of my friends Betsy and Tyson up in Stillwater, Minnesota. It was so wonderful and I had a reunion with all my best college girlfriends, so that was a major bonus! I also, unfortunately, traveled home for the funeral of my uncle Klaus (the inspiration for my studies and passion for mathematics).

October flew by with our annual HPC Live the Dream Women's Conference which my mom attended with me. Shortly after that, I found out that my friend Mallory is pregnant with her first baby! This has been quite a year!

In between all my travels, my supervisors changed, though my position remained the same. I now assist Pastor Mike Haman with our 12 international campuses and global missions, and book staff travel. With the change, I had the opportunity to travel to all of our Louisiana campuses and encourage and evaluate them. It is incredible to see the heart of Christ being represented at all of our campuses as we reach, serve, give, and build for the Kingdom. I just love serving at Healing Place Church and am so honored to call it home.

Despite all of my travels, Robert and I have a stronger marriage than ever and I am growing more in love with him each day (if that's possible). While I was gone he did a lot of amazing renovations on our home- we have a new back patio and a new fireplace mantle (thanks, Rob Gros!).

I find that I am falling in love with my home here in Louisiana and have developed some awesome friendships. I also have found a hobby in the kitchen- baking and cooking. I am working on my skills and would love you to share any of your favorite recipes!

So as the year comes to a close, I reflect that 2009 has been exhilarating, refreshing, emotional, and complete. Thank you for all your love and support. I would love to hear about you 2009 through letter or blog or phone call! I pray that this Christmas finds you reflecting on a wonderful year past and anticipating a spectacular year to come. May Christ dwell richly in your hearts and your homes this holiday season.

Much love to each of you and Blessings beyond your wildest dreams!
Robert and Colleen Conti

Keeping Busy this summer!

It has been about 2 months since my last post. What can I say, it's summer!

I have had a really incredible summer. God blessed me with several opportunities to travel these past few months- I spent three weeks in southern Africa serving our HPC campuses there and participating in a leadership conference. I traveled with a friend to Oklahoma City to visit Church of the Harvest, a great friend church of HPC, and learned about how they host incoming mission teams and how they do the "network" thing. I visited home to attend my uncle Klaus' (my mathematician inspiration) funeral- this was quite a sad and difficult experience for me since I was close to him. And I led a mission team to Maues, Brazil to serve the pastors there and outreach along the Amazon river.

Robert and I have also been busy on the homefront- working mostly outside (when it's not too hot). I planned my first vegetable garden. We are also are adding a back patio (perfect timing to have some outdoor dinner parties this fall). We tore down our back fence and are cleaning out the brush behind it to get a better view of the lake from our new patio!

I have also tried my hand in cooking and baking a little. My friends Lauren and Kaycee started an event planning company and I have had the honor to bake for some of their events.

Below are some pictures from the summer. Hope you enjoy!

My new vegetable garden- it is just starting so the plants aren't grown yet!

The concrete was poured on Thursday for our new patio!

Sunset view from the boat on the Amazon! Breath-taking to say the least!

In my hammock on the river!

During my visit north I got to see my cousins (by marriage), Mike and Mere who are pregnant! Congrats!!

In Oklahoma, Kim and I learned about team building with incoming groups!
She is (to the back left of the picture) getting ready to jump on the top of the pyramid.

Me and one of the girls at HPC: Mozambique during a church service.

A steak salad that I made for dinner one night. It is all about presentation!

The "But I tell yous..."

Yesterday morning the Lord directed me to read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew ch. 5-7). It is just such a rich part of scriptures with so many nuggets that Jesus shares with the crowd. It is so fun to read the Word because I seem to find something new every time I read. This time while I was reading, I noticed a repetitive phrase that I found so interesting: "...but I tell you..." Jesus speaks to the people saying "You have heard..." in regards to: murder, adultery, divorce, eye for an eye, and loving your neighbor, but after each statement he says, "BUT I tell you..."

It made me think about my dad. He was the most loving and compassionate man I know. He was not a rule setter but he had some standards that he expected me to live by. For example when I got my license, he expected me to drive for a few month WITHOUT any friends in the car. Once I proved myself, he would eventually let one, then two then three others in the car with me. These standards were only in place for my protection or to build my character. Sometimes, even with how lenient he was, I would complain that this was not the standards that other parents had for their children. He was quick to reply, "BUT they aren't my children and they don't live in this house".

I think about this in the context of Christ. Our heavenly Father set some standards for his children to live by. Sometimes as his children we complain, "But dad, other people can do this and don't have a problem". He is quick to reply, "but they aren't my children; they don't live in my house ". This makes all the difference. With the house, come standards, but from the same house comes blessing, favor, protection, honor, forgiveness, and redemption.

So next time your Father says, "But I tell you..." Listen to Him. It is for your protection, to build character in you. Remember, this is all because you are His child.