In the last month I have:
-Seen a scorpion in our house
-Been awakened once again to the reality that we might not have tomorrow due to the death of a neighbor lady.
-Witnessed an El Salvador funeral basically in our front yard.
-Ate sandwiches where some of them had inchworms in them
-Laid in bed for three days straight sick-as-dog!
-Wished I would’ve died several times because I felt so miserable several times.
-Made way too many trips to the toilet!
-Had a squad member get peed on by a dog(literally)
-Preached on Sonship
-Learned more about living as a son.
-Been through enough of hard times with my team to last for the year(And it’s only been the first month!)
-Truly been learning what it means to depend on God because often times, there is nowhere else to go.
-Taken on the challenge of bringing our team with its diverse personalities, together and focusing on the one thing we have in common…it’s Jesus!
-Learned two worship songs in Spanish(and counting)
-Did I mention I was sick!
-Praised God for the times of trial because of the good that is coming out of it.
-Led worship, shared a testimony, and preached the WORD all in one night at the same church! After lying in bed for three days as sick as a dog. (Says to the Devil)hows that for a comeback!
-Loved on so many kids!
-Prayed over countless homeless people.
-Felt alone at times.
-Gotten in the great habit of throwing my TP into the waste basket.
-Had more free time than I imagined we would have.
-Learned to be intentional with my free time.
-Spiritually fought for those in my team.
-Fell in love with these awesome chocolate covered bananas they have here!
-Fell even more in love with my Father!
-Seen lives changed by the Father’s love…I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything in the world!
But as fun and crazy as all those things may sound, this first month of the race here in El Salvy has been hard. Not hard as in physically hard. But hard as in spiritually and emotionally hard. “Perseverance through difficulty”…this is the phrase that would best describe what our first month of the race has been like. I had never imagined that our first month of the race would be this difficult.
–Difficult in the area of team unity.
–Difficult in loving each other as Jesus would.
–Difficult in bringing unity when there are differences. Not uniformity!
–Difficult in learning when to stand up and use my voice, and when to remain quiet.
–Difficult in appreciating every person’s views and opinions.
–Difficult in ministry not being what we expected it would be.
–Difficult in learning to be intentional with all our free time.
But even though it has been difficult, I have loved every minute of it because I know God has been in every part of it. I have loved every minute of it because I know that, “GOD IS FOR ME”! No matter how difficult a situation may be, God is always for me!
God is also teaching me so much about love. Real true love! The love that Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 13.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice in injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
This is the kind of love that I'm praying over my team, and my squad. If we really have that kind of love flowing from our lives for each other as brothers and sisters, nations are going to be changed! Lives are going to be restored. Healing will rain down. The Kingdom of God will come! Simply by having true AGAPE love for God and for others, we fulfill the two greatest commandment in the Bible!
Please join me in prayer that our team would be unified in that love! That our squad would be empowered by that love, and that nations would be changed by the love!
