My Calling

This morning I found Paul before a king, queen, governor, all the military tribunes, and all the prominent men of the city he was in. Having been given permission to speak freely his defense, he begins with his story, his testimony, of how it happened that God saved him and how he’d been called to serve Him. It’s really quite beautiful what Jesus said to him that day:

“…I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.” (Acts 26:17c-18)

My conversion was just a little different (I was a child in junior church) and so was my calling (I was 14 at camp praying what my God wanted for my life after being extremely challenged by an elderly missionary) also my time period and circumstances. But I am called to the same cause –to people who are living in darkness and bound by Satan’s power… to open their eyes so that they might see it and turn to the light and to God: So that they may receive forgiveness of their sins and an inheritance among the others that have been sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ! Wow! That’s amazing! What a privilege I have! What privilege every believer has to be a part of someone coming to Christ and growing in Him!

I am excited to be returning to Mexico to continue serving the Lord there! I want young people to have the same opportunity I was given –to have their eyes opened and live in the light of the gospel, to know their God, His forgiveness, and sanctification.

Right now I am traveling some to meet and share with people, to invite them to partner with me, then I intend to head back to VA to continue doing the same thing. If God has called me to go, will He not call others to send me? This season of my life God has been calling me to another side of simple faith and boldness in Him. For anyone who knows me, “aggressive” would not be a part of my description. But I need prayer to aggressively pursue what God’s called me to, which boils down to pursuing faithful prayer warriors and being fully-funded. May I be a faithful traveler in the journey that He’s set out for me.

A little more about me and what I get to do in Mexico can me read here.

Eutychus

     I’ve been having my devotions in Acts. Today in particularly, I read Acts 20:1-12. It tells about Paul’s missionary travels. He stops in Troas with his missions buddies for a week. On his last night, when all the disciples had gathered together in the upper chamber, he preached to them on past midnight (a very long sermon.) One of the guys there, Eutychus, was sitting in the window and fell into a deep sleep. High, open window ledges and deep sleeping people are horrible combinations, and as you can imagine, he fell to his death. Paul basically goes down, embraces him, and brings him back to life. Then everyone goes back up, eats, talks until day break when it was time for Paul and his team to go.

     This reminds me so much of the missions trip I took to southern Mexico early May. (No, no one died.) We were about 7 people and we visited several towns, churches, and fellow believers in their homes doing various ministry activities for two weeks. Really that wasn’t enough time because even though we split up, we could only stay one night in some places. Needless to say, we were often up very late talking to people who really wanted to take advantage of every moment of these missionaries with them, and missionaries who wanted to take advantage of every moment they had to help and encourage these believers. As I remember this and try to relate to the Biblical account, I think about the passionate Paul and his courageous companions, of the enthusiastic disciples, then there’s Eutychus. And like a good missionary, I find myself relating to –Eutychus, for I personally found myself physically unable to keep myself awake sometimes. I think to myself… you know, this is not very encouraging. My Eutychus heart cries out, “You have no idea the schedule I’ve had this past week.”, “It’s so hot and humid.”, “I don’t feel well.”, “They fed me turkey!”, “I am making an effort –I’m here!”, “I do want to learn more!”, “I do love these people!”, or “I’m just human!” Some may say to Eutychus’ defense, we don’t know that he was the only one to fall asleep; he was just the only one to fall out the window. True. However, it doesn’t actually matter. It’s easy to justify or condemn yourself based on how other people live their lives, but it can lead to a false sense of righteousness or guilt. I know, because it’s my constant battle. A much better measuring standard is Jesus Christ. What is that you say? You can never live up to Christ you say? Yeah, I know. And I suppose that’s my point. We do things we wished we didn’t. Eutychus fell asleep in a window and died. But, Paul, through the power of the Holy Spirit, raised him from the dead. He didn’t have to, he graciously did so. (This is where identifying with Eutychus gets much better.) God shows me grace too –daily. He embraces me, picks me up, brings me back to the abundant life, provides for me, and speaks to my heart. When I try to prove myself, I fight grace. When I accept who I am in Christ, I rest in grace. So, today I identify with Eutychus, and it’s not so bad after all.

Just a few pictures of our trip down south. :)

We saw the beach for the first time from the interstate and just had to pull over!

"Maestra!..."

I started going through some of the things that I’ve accumulated while I’ve been here and I came across a list of things my students said to me last year. They were 7-8 years old. They seemed to always say the funniest things out of the blue! Here are some of them:

 

§  Student tells me, “Tomorrow you’re going to get married!” Another chimes in, “We’re going to find you a husband!”

 

§  Student: “What are you doing?”

Me: “Sweeping.”

Student: “Why?”

Me: “Because the floor’s dirty.”

Student: (with sincere disappointment) “Awww, man! I liked the floor dirty!”

 

§   “You don’t look like a teacher without your glasses.”

 

§  (Defiantly) “I’m not afraid of you!... (rethinking) But I am afraid of my dad….”

 

§  Student 1: “Camden, I don’t want you to die!”

Student 2: “But she’s going to die!”

Student3: “Everyone’s going to die!”

 

§  “You sing pretty. You should stop talking and sing all the time!”

 

§  “Tomorrow put on make-up. You look like the woman of the dead!”

 

Yep. They were a blast!

 

            There’s a lot going on around here as we’re getting ready to finish the school year. Also, Word of Life Mexico just celebrated 30 years of ministry! I finished my online university, so I’ve been able to head out on the weekends a little. Recently I went to Jilotepec, Mexico and helped a little with their Compassion center and Bible Club. It was great to meet other believers in another area of Mexico, but I was super excited to share Christ with a little girl and then two teenage girls and have them trust Him as their Savior! Praise Him!

Resplendent Beauty

Yesterday I read in Ezekiel about his vision of the temple and the glory of God. He said, “…the glory of the LORD filled the house.” (Ez. 43:5) I really got caught up thinking on that. First of all, when something is filled, it’s full. There’s no room for anything else. If you were to add something to a full glass of water it would begin to run over. Second, imagine God’s glory. My good friend, Dictionary.com, says that glory in the Bible usually means “brightness, splendor, magnificence, majesty”. A modern definition I think fits is “resplendent beauty or magnificence.” God is beautiful! His person and character are like no other –He is holy. The most beautiful people I know are those who remind me of Him. His beauty and His splendor filled the place!

Now… here’s what really got me. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says to those who have trusted Christ, “…your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you” and 2 Corinthians 6:16, “…ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God….” I have the very Spirit of the living God within me (something which, alone, blows my mind)! He has chosen my body to be His dwelling place. I am His temple. Here is what tugs at my heart: Does His beauty fill me? Does the glory of His presence fill me like it did the temple Ezekiel saw? I want it to. I want to radiate Him… His love, His goodness, His purity, His justice, etc. It is my prayer that God will continue conforming me to the image of His Son, that He would be lifted up through my life. Oh, that there would not be room for anything else….

 

 

 

 

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....