Picture Perfect Puertas

      Today we had the day off, so we took our long anticipated adventure into town to photo shoot their unique puertas (doors). Dawnell and I had two girls from the school with us, Carmen and Alejandra. Because it's a holiday, there were a lot of intimidating tourists in town, so we took the opportunity to share the gospel and pass out tracks with the girls. No one made a decision, but street evangelism was something new for these girls who happen to be extremely shy. They took steps today to share about Christ with other people when it was hard for them, and that really excites me! I loved spending time with them today!

 

 

 

As a little group of American girls, we've been studying James with Beth Moore. It's been good. Recently I've been reflecting a lot on James 1:27.

 

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

 

I've been thinking about my religion... the way I live my life for God. I was challenged not to "coast" and hope to arrive one day at all that I hoped to be and all that I wanted to live for the Lord. I don't think we live coasting decidedly, but we unconsciously do when we don't live on purpose. I'm not satisfied with who I am... I wanna be so much more. I want to be free for God to use whenever and however He wants. Living up to that takes "serious discipline and determination.... courage and deep conviction.... the Holy Ghost." Here's the quote from Beth that keeps playing in my mind and my heart:

 

You don't live this kind of life accidentally. You make up your mind who you want to be and die daily to the rest.

 

Simply summed. I make hundreds of decisions every day. Many are opportunities to change who I am and grow into Who I want to be. Because of Christ's victory over sin and death, I can choose to die to the hindering and choose to walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:16, 24-25 says

 

...Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

... they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

 

My prayer for myself is that I will daily choose to die to the things that quench who God's calling me to be... -who I want to be, and choose the best a hundred times every day.

 

 

 

Crazy or In Love

         Whenever someone does something out of the ordinary or strange, like losing something they just had or squirting hand soap on their toothbrush, people here make the comment that they're either crazy or in love! The statement is funny, but has a ring of truth in it because sometimes love makes us do crazy things. For example, I love Nestle hot chocolate, Reeses, chocolate chips, peanut butter, cream of wheat, B&BW, dill pickles, etc. They either don't have them, they're hard to find, or just ridiculously expensive here, so I become the crazy person in the airport traveling with the maxed out check-in bag, almost exploding carry-on and rather large personal item. I hate traveling with a bunch of luggage... so why do I do it? My "love" for those things make it worth it to me.
          I've been challenged with love recently. If anyone were to ask me if I loved Jesus Christ, of course I would say yes, most people in Christian service would. But what does that really mean? Love is never stagnate. So what in my life is driven by my love for Christ?
           I could be religious and say going to church, I moved to another country to do missionary work, or I live without bagels, but that's not what I'm talking about. I have found that I can make a sincere decision in faith and then be driven by obligation. That's not what I'm talking about either and I don't want to live that way.  I think of love for Christ as something not just printed on my t-shirt, but something running through my veins and making my heart beat, energizing me for what lies ahead.  It's more than just action, it's who I am.

2 Corinthians 5:14,15 says, "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."My love for Christ should be seen in my desire for Him, excitement about the gospel, and my care for other people... it should be a reality in my attitude.

"In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1John 4:9,10) God's love drove Him to do something pretty crazy for me...personally, I ask myself,

Do I notice other peoples' needs?

Do I go out of my way to help?

Do I give even though it hurts?

Do I explain something with longsuffering for the 10th time?

Do I go above and beyond because it's important to someone else when I could care less? 

Do I do the monotonous faithfully and with all my heart?

Am I thankful?... for everything?

Do I look for opportunities to share the gospel, and take them?

Am I aware of the power of my words and try build people up?

Is my time being managed so that I'm really getting the time I need every day in God's Word?

 

It's everyday life.

 

 "Love makes us do crazy things, so what is your love for Christ leading you to do?"

-David Winsor

 

 

 

          Our internship team has just recently increased by two! I'm so excited for Andrea and Steve to be with us. They are both currently serving here in the school and are a huge help to us. Yesterday we went with Claudia and Betty into the city so they could get the things they needed to get settled in. It is so fun to be with them as they experience living in Mexico for the first time. I am super excited to see all that God does through them here and how He grows them through the new challenges He's bringing their way!

A Breath of Fresh Air

The past month I've been able to see and spend time with my family, friends have made a special effort to connect with me, visit with my church, and see God provide in unexpected ways.

I arrived home December 17th and we stayed in Virginia for Christmas. My highlights were that I met my niece Liliana for the first time, decorating sugar cookies, and having my friend Darla visit with us!




We headed to Tennessee for the weekend after Christmas to catch up with the App family (my sister's family), grandparents, cousins, aunt and uncles. The food was DELICIOUS and this year we had lots of fun with a Nerf war. :)

 

Eventually Christa and I headed to the Word of Life Missions Conference in Schroon Lake, NY with friends. Two years ago I was commissioned in this conference and this year I walked with my "class" of interns as we finished what we each set out to do in different parts around the world. It was refreshing and exciting to hear and share experiences and be an encouragement to new missionary interns heading out this month! I got to see some old friends too and it's just always fun to hear how God moves in each life in unique ways. You can watch the missions conference sessions using the link below!

                                     Word of Life Bible Institute Missions Conference 2013

This trip home I've been very encouraged about whatever it may be that God has in store for my future. It's a little scary yet also exciting to dream and pursue the unknown. God has been touching my heart in different ways and it will be interesting to see what He calls me to next!

I was able to visit with my home church a little and it was so good to see people who have been investing in my life for a long time now. This past Wednesday night I had the privilege of sharing my testimony with young teenagers that are going there now. SO FUN to share with them and answer questions from such an enthusiastic crowd!

 

I don't know what to do sometimes when faced with a specific need in my life... whether to share it, or not. I think that perhaps there are times for both. This visit home was a special time to see God provide. I'd been praying about some Bibles for the school and God provided for me to bring back 10 of them! Going to missions conference in NY from VA was interesting since Christa and I didn't have any money for gas. He provided for that in several ways, but what really stands out is that He chose to use people that didn't have much to give in the first place. Looking back and reading John 6:1-14 this morning has really encouraged me to have faith and trust God when facing needs I can't meet. It's a good thing that He's into doing impossible things!

Thank You, Lord, for Your faithfulness in my life! Increase my faith....

Colors of Life

Two weeks ago we had our Missions week here in the school! We have a guest missionary every day and a special mission’s chapel.

 At the end of the week we have an evangelistic activity so that as a school we can go share the gospel.This year we did the children's show Colors of Life in a nearby town.

 

 

It’s basically the wordless book come to life! J

It’s really a privilege to be a part of something like this and to see the students get excited about sharing the gospel!

Milagro



This picture is actually of Dawnell and I from last year when
 we went out sharing as a group from Bible Club.

     Yesterday Karla (a student from the school) and I went into town to witness a little. Bernal exists for its weekend tourism, the main attraction- The Peña de Bernal: The world’s third largest monolith right  here in Queretaro. Bernal is a difficult little town to witness in were the locals are concerned… but not unreachable. Yesterday was a demeaning day with rejection. One woman we witnessed to made a politely insulting commit touching my surety of what I was talking about that fell back on one of the few things that could actually sting- my Spanish speaking abilities. I knew what she said wasn’t really true… and Karla reminded me not to be discouraged… but it really did bother me. It was the kind of thing that made me want to just pack-up and go home where I could also share the gospel and without having to try so hard to simply talk, let alone communicate something of so great importance. But God humbled me and reminded me that it’s all in His timing, for His purposes, and all that I do should be simply because I love Him.

     Today, we went to the Peña to have our Bible Club and I witnessed a miracle... in my very presence a young lady passed from death to life! David (a boy from the school and Bible Club) and I shared God’s Word and watched as she realized her sin before a holy God and embraced the truth that Jesus took on Himself the penalty of her sin so that she might be free and enter into an intimate relationship with the One who created her... and God used me (of all people) as He opened her eyes... and all in Spanish. What grace! What an amazing, beautiful God!

Fiel

"Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful." 1 Cor. 4:2 (NKJV)

Fiel. It means faithful. Being thorough and steady in the performance of duty set before you. This morning in split devotions in the school, "my kids" each learned what it means to be faithful as a child of God. Maricela, our school secretary, has been over my classroom this month and she had each student make a goal for their lives of one thing that they will be faithful in. Then they prayed and asked God to help them do it.

I love hearing my students pray! :) It is so neat to see God working and shaping their little lives. To help them to remember their "be faithful" goals, we all drew pictures of our goals and hung them above our offices (desks).

If you want to pray for them and their goals, here they are!

• Rebeca -to finish all her homework everyday
• Sofia -to pray
• Cristian - to pray and read his Bible
• Omar -to read God's word
• Daniel -to finish his homework and obey the teacher

There's Power in the Blood!

My roomate, Merle, has been in Mexico City with her family for some time now... off and on since the summer. Her 15 year old brother, Alex, has cancer and has been undergoing various chemotheropy treatments. It has been very difficult for their family, but God has been doing amazing things in their lives as He draws each of them closer to Himself.

Merle and Alex
Please remember them in your prayers.

Merle is a shinning light in the midst of a dominating catholic world. Her faith and readiness to share the gospel in the hospital with those around her simply shows Christ within her and her life is an example of what it means to live for the Lord.
Recently, her brother was hopitalized because he got an infection after an intense chemo treatment. The doctors declared that there was simply nothing that they could do for him. Everyone had to wait and pray.
Later the doctors said that the one thing that would help Alex is to give him blood. (Alight, this was explained to me in Spanish, so bear with me, but this would refresh his body and put white blood cells and all of the healthy good stuff your blood has in it to fight off disease.) So, a group of us from Word of Life in Mexico went to the hospital and donated our blood!
I love how the body of Christ came together to help Alex. After two weeks or so, Alex came out of the "danger zone". He is still fighting cancer, but his family is waiting for him to improve enough to return home!
Alex needed blood to encouraged life in his body. What a reminder of the need I had for the blood of Christ to cleanse me of my sin. It wasn't something I earned, it was a gift of grace. There truly is power in the blood of Christ to give new life!

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7, KJV)