becka lippy

I announced in my last post that I would be stepping down from my paid position with my church. Last Sunday I was reflecting on my way home after our church service. I was thinking about how nice it will be to just be another person at church. You see, being on the pastoral team means a lot of responsibility. I don't know if my feelings are right or wrong, but they are what I feel.  Being on the pastoral team, having the title of "women's pastor" means a lot of things. It means that if I am having a rough Sunday, it doesn't really matter. Suck it up and serve. Because it's not about you. Granted I've had Sundays where I've hung out in the back where no one can find me for most of the service. But I know that once the service is over and it's coffee time, I need to be on my game. Cristobal preaches, but I am the backstage manager. Through the service I am making sure everything runs smoothly. New people are greeted, those without bibles are given

(Side note: So sorry for the two and a half month hiatus. Life got a bit busy and while I often thought about writing here, it just never happened.) As you know from previous posts, I am currently employed by three different groups. They are all related, all church focused, and all dream jobs for me. But alas, it IS possible to have too much good in your life. So after much prayer and counsel I decided to leave two of my jobs and go back to English teaching. Wait a second, you hate English teaching . Well, yeah. I don't know if I would say that I hate it, but it's definitely not my favorite thing to do and it will be really hard to go back to it after getting to work in these jobs for a year. But the plan is to work teaching English for a year or two, earn and save money, and hopefully after a while have enough money saved to do something else. Like... open up a cafe. So I gave my notice to two of my jobs. I'll stay with the church planting network job. Mainly because

I still have moments of amazement  that I live here in Chile. Who would have known that this california girl would find her home in a country so far away from her own? But here I am. I love my apartment. It has become exactly what I dreamed. A refuge for me, beautiful and tranquil. And at the same time, a center of social life among my community. Every week, dozens of people pass through my apartment. For one-on-one discipleship. For birthday parties. For our weekly bible study. For watching futbol games. I love it. First semester (March- July) was pretty rough for me. There were too many conferences to coordinate. Too many details to remember. Too many events to coordinate. I broke down in tears more or less every week. It wasn't exactly healthy. But second semester has been much more reasonable in terms of pace of life. I am finding that I love my jobs. I love the coordinating. And I love the pastoral work. I love getting to be a part of developing pastoral leadership in the Ch

Over the years I have learned that my relationship with the struggle of singleness is something of a roller coaster. I have seasons where I really deeply struggle and seasons where I am genuinely content with where I am. The seasons can last anywhere from a week to months. I don't think I've stayed in either of the seasons for more than a year. And while it can be exhausting at times, the back and forth, I am actually quite grateful that the Lord has given me this ride. I've been in the content season now for more than six months. In fact, except for a short period of a week or two, it's almost been a year. I was commenting to Ale, my friend who has faithfully loved and discipled me for two years, that while I have enjoyed this season, and it would be easy to pray that God leaves me here, I know that I am still on the roller coaster. I will struggle again. And I am glad for it. Strange. Glad to be struggling? Yes. You see, while the struggle itself is painful, it has

One more blog post before I head to bed. As I just wrote in the previous post, I am working with a church plant here in Santiago. If you have been following the blog for a while (or you just know me!) you know that I love my church. I had no idea when I showed up in Chile over two and a half years ago that I would be a part of this beautiful and messy community of christians. It has been a huge blessing to serve on the pastoral team for the last year and a half. This year in particular has been one of learning dependence on God. Last year our pastoral team had 6 people. And then, in one big hit, we lost 4 of them! Not that anything scandalous happened, but that for good and healthy reasons, they all went back to their home churches (or countries!). Even Max, who is a long termer in ISA had to leave for a year to serve in another church as part of his seminary training. So in the end, Cristobal, the head pastor and church planter, and I were left looking at each other and me nervous

I get the question all the time: what do you do here? I get it. I must be either a missionary here or an English teacher. Those are the only two boxes to place someone like me into. Sadly, my answer is much more complicated. No, I am not a missionary here. At least I don't think of myself as one. I don't have a sending church, nor am I supported financially by people overseas. I didn't come with a contract from an agency. Not even with a mission really. Except I do have a mission. But I think every christian has a mission, right? And no, I'm not an English teacher. I have taught English on and off for the last 8 years. But, except for one private class, I gave that all up for my current jobs. So the answer? I have three contracts. One is working half time for Fundacion Generacion, a church planting foundation. Another is working two days a week on the pastoral staff at Iglesia Santiago Apostol (ISA), a church plant in downtown Santiago. And the third is as the nat

My family somehow finds the excuse every year for me to go "home" to visit them. I have to put home in quotations because I'm not quite sure that where home is. When I am here in Chile I might refer to going home as going to California, but when I am in California, it is quite obvious that my home is in Chile. Just call me confused.  The three weeks I got to be home were nothing short of amazing. I want to share with you my top favorite parts of the trip. These are in chronological order: 1. My grandma. This very special 89 year old birthday girl was my excuse to visit home. My grandma is someone INCREDIBLY special to me. She has been one of my biggest supporters in life and I love her dearly. I flew out to Washington to spend a few days alone with her before we headed out to California together. I treasure her greatly.  2. My birthday breakfast with my mom, Nigel, Aviva and Jeremy. It's not every day that a girl turns 30. I met up w

Are you ready for it? Are you ready for the wave? The wave of blog posts!!! It's been WAY too long and although I have found myself thinking time and time again about various things that I want to share with you my dear blogreaders, I haven't sat down to do such. So here we go... the last few months made up in various posts! (A special thanks to Diana for reminding me to write.)

Today is a big day. Today is the day that I will be handed the keys to my new apartment! Actually, its an old apartment. A beautiful old apartment. High ceilings, hard word floors, and french doors that lead out onto the quiet street. And best of all, its a full 2 minute walk to my favorite street in Santiago, Lastarria. When I first came to Chile, almost 8 years, I had no idea that I would fall in love with this country. I had no idea that I would someday call this country "home". But then I did. And those four years that I was out of Chile, heartbroken and homesick, made my return to Chile all the sweeter. None of my family doubted that I was returning to Chile for the long run. Not only did they understand, but they were happy for me. Funny enough, people here didn't understand that. When you are a foreigner here, people always ask the same questions. Where are you from? what are you doing here? and How long are you staying? I told people time and ti

I really do have intentions to write more. Life just moves a bit too quickly these days. But then again, haven't I been saying that for years? I'm finishing up my third month working in (more than) full time ministry. I say more than full time because between my three jobs, I am actually contracted to work a total of 49 hours a week. Here in Chile, the work week is 44 hours so I'm not that far off. But having three ministry jobs, in a foreign culture that doesn't worship time management like we do in the US, has been quite a challenge. I have to say that my bosses have all been very flexible with me, letting me more or less decide the when and where. And my office is literally a 30 second walk from my apartment building. And I have lots of resources to make things happen. And I work with incredible people who love Jesus. But more than anything, the key to making this whole three crazy jobs fit into one schedule, is that I love my jobs. My jobs are literally a sweet c

There is nothing quite like sitting at a cafe, with your computer in front of you, and the smells of yummy coffee enveloping you like a warm blanket. That's my Saturday. I've made my way over to Interludio cafe in Lastarria. I've passed by it quite often and wanted to try it out. It's a bit on the expensive side (a small cappuccino for $4.50?) But the atmosphere is just right. Funky but warm decorations, light music in the background, and of course, handsome waiters who are much nicer than the average chilean cafe worker. Interludio  Merced 316 Selection of food: A- Selection of coffee: C Prices: C- Service: A Overall atmosphere: A+ I don't usually do a cafe review on this blog, but I want it to be a part of my story here. I hope to open a cafe here someday and till then I need to do my "research". Keep your eyes open for these reviews, so that when you come down here you'll know exactly where to get the best latte with the cutes

This post will be one of those confessional ones. One of those posts where I lay out on the table just how ridiculous I am. Did you know that you can have all your wildest dreams come true, and still not be happy? For YEARS I have dreamed of living in Chile. And not only has God given me that, but He brought me to the coolest neighborhood in said country and gave me an amazing apartment. For YEARS I have wanted to work in full time ministry. So much so that I got myself into $30,000 in debt to study for an Masters in the thing. And now, I not only get to be in full time ministry, but I get to work with a church planting network (so cool!) and be the women's pastor at an amazing church plant. DREAM COME TRUE. So could someone please tell me why, with all these dreams-come-true, with these prayers answered, with such an obviously wonderful God who blessed me richly with an incredible life, better than I could ever imagine. Why, oh why am I discontent? Why don't I feel gr

Our pastoral team last year had 6 people. Two of them went back to Australia. One of them graduated from seminary and moved back to his hometown. And now, our dear Max Diaz is leaving us to do his internship at another church for a year.  This week we had our last Sunday service with Max and his wife Caro. And in good chilean style, we had a picnic after church to say our "good-byes".  If you are keeping track, this means our pastoral team is down to two of us. Cristobal and myself. The good news is that we will get a seminary student who will spend the year with us.

I've made my way up to the roof of my apartment building. I love it up here. Up here, I look over the tops of the buildings, hear the traffic down below, and I know I am truly a city girl. Up here, I can sometimes see the Andes Mountains. Up here, I admire the clouds that make such interesting patterns, and the sunsets that take my breath away. Up here I worship the Creator of all these things. After all, isn't it biblical. I'm pretty sure that the old-school guys like Daniel used to go up on their roofs to worship God. Not sure culturally why they chose their roofs, but I think the practice is quite appropriate for a 21st century city girl. Some people are evoked to worship God when they go out into nature. I feel it when I am in the city. Today I've come up here to the rooftop to work. Now that I have three jobs, I have plenty of work to get done. But before I attacked the long to-do list for the day, I wanted to spend some time in Ephesians. You know, a devotiona

Mary grew up in the church. She was even a leader. Helped lead worship on Sundays and was active in the life of the community. But something was off. Her boyfriend had moved in with her. They knew that the bible was clear that sex was supposed to be enjoyed only in the context of marriage. She assumed they would get married someday. And for now, it was just easier if they lived together. She enjoyed waking up with him each morning, discovering each other's idiosyncrasies, and things were great. Except they weren't.  The church, where Mary was a integrally involved, did nothing. They knew that two of their leaders were willfully disobeying God. And the church turned a blind eye. Easier that way.  Eventually Mary and her boyfriend broke up. And it was no pretty break up. She left her church. She knew she was still a christian, still believed in God, but somehow in her mind, her sexuality was separate from all of that. She eventually got back into a church, a new church. She

Gozo means joy in Spanish. And it's what I've been feeling. Really and seriously. 2011 was a year of changes. 2012 was a year full of work (and a few mental breakdowns) but I can see that 2013 is going to be a year of joy. How can I say this? Some of you might think that I am jinxing myself by saying that. But I say it, full with confidence, "This will be a year of JOY" I can say this because my joy is set in something that has been tried and proven true: Jesus. Don't get me wrong, I am also looking forward to a lot of great things this year. I'll explain more later. But for a moment I just want to enjoy what my 29 years of life have taught me. Jesus is worthy of everything. And living a life for Him is mind-blowingly awesome. There are hard moments, there are certainly tears. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I've been making some bigger life decisions recently, and I've seen that God has taught me to seek Him in all things

I'd like to introduce you officially to three special girls in my life. They are Belen, Jacinta, and Amanda Ceron. My pastor Cristobal and his wife Ale have been probably one of the biggest blessings in my life here in Chile. They have completely taken me into their family and loved me as one of their own. I'm something of a little sister to them, and hence something of an aunt to the girls. I spend whole days with the family and even stay the night sometimes. Of course this leads to every time I go over to their house the girls ask if I am going to spend the night. And when I do, they make my bed in Cris' office, complete with Barbie sheets and all.  Tonight is one of those nights. So in honor of getting to spend time with my favorite little girls, I thought I'd post some pics of our last time together.  Amanda is 2 and absolutely a doll. I can't help but attack her with kisses when I see her. Last time I stayed with the girls I told them that we wer

It's been a great and challenging week. As many of you know, my church, ISA, is taking me on as part time staff. Last year I somehow managed to work more than any sane person should, and the Lord provided sanity most of the time, and tissues when my sanity broke and I needed a good cry. But 2013 is going to be different. Starting Feb 1st I will be working two days a week as a woman's pastor with ISA. Another day a week, I will be coordinating a pastoral apprenticeship program in the Anglican Church of Chile. And then of course, my half time job with Fundacion Generacion. It will be an interesting and exciting year! I'm in the time of transition now between English teaching and taking on full time ministry. And I'm loving it. My job with ISA is primarily discipleship with the women, overall leadership as part of the pastoral team, and putting some administrative order into the church. Really, it's a dream come true. In the last few weeks I've had the chance

I sat across from her, praying for wisdom. She told me about her life, full of "delights" and "fun times". But she was miserable. I could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice. My own heart full of sadness that my friend was looking for her joy and personal value in all the wrong places. She had been wrestling with apathy in her relationship with God and was losing. In my times praying for her in the past, I had realized that she was a prodigal son, and I was an older brother. But instead of acting like the older brother in the story, I wanted to respond well. I wanted to respond the way the Father does. "While (the younger son) was still far off, the father went out to greet him". There is nothing but love and forgiveness in the heart of the father. So I had been praying that my own heart would reflect that of the Father. When it was my time to respond, I sat there silently for a minute, wondering what I should say. I asked my friend what she beli