Before I give a quick update, I wanted to share something on my heart. God has been teaching me many different things these past
few weeks…things that I don’t think I would’ve picked up if I weren’t among
such strong, courageous followers of Christ 24 hours a day. That’s doesn’t mean I’m not around strong,
courageous Christians back home. It’s
just different here because I’m living with these people.
I’m beginning to see the power and effect of living in true
community with Christ. The nature of the
World Race is that we are around each other all day, every day (except for our “iPod
alone time,� which implies to others around you that when you have headphones
in and eyes closed, you’re recharging).
Regardless of my introverted tendencies, it’s tough sometimes. Even so, the benefits far outweigh the
consequences (yes, I know it’s only month two and that it’s just going to get harder).
What I’ve realized, though, is that faithfulness inspires
faithfulness; obedience inspires obedience.
We all keep each other in check and make sure our paths stay
straight. The sad reality is that Satan
has a hand in just about everything in this world and has made it his sole
purpose of existence to distract us from our Heavenly Father. Because of this, we all have moments of
weakness. With the strength of community
as our primary weapon, though, we have a way to overcome that weakness. The problem is that overcoming weaknesses
by community depends on the courage of those around me to follow the Holy Spirit that
is in their hearts. God often works
through others to answer prayers and take care of His children. Since His Spirit is inside of us, it’s simply
a question of whether or not we will let Him lead and shine into our
lives so we can allow God to work through us for others.
Having people around me all the time that have made it their
top priority to follow the Spirit rather than the world means that God has an
open channel to me. The power of
community with Christ is on full blast and it’s awesome! Not to say I don’t still struggle sometimes,
but what’s different is that my access to God is not dependent upon my own
willingness to listen and seek after Him.
I used to be a quiet, reserved Christian who didn’t like to
pray out loud or in front of people. I
didn’t want to be “that guy� who made the first mention of God in a
conversation. I was closing myself off
to sustain my faith alone, not knowing how dangerous that is. Jesus said we can’t do it without God (Mark
10:27), and if He works through other people… then that means we also need
others (who are bold enough to be “that person�).
Who we surround ourselves with can and will directly impact
our faith. We have to build our
community around Christ with people who let the Spirit shine like it was meant to
from the beginning.
Anyways…
VBS starts on Tuesday for our church in Mogollon! We have some pretty awesome ideas about what
to do with the kids, so please pray that connections are made and our messages
are translated clearly (and that our messages are the right ones in the first
place).
We finished up the last full day of manual labor yesterday
and I can’t tell you how awesome it was to see everything we were able to dig
up/fix/rebuild/cut down/clean.
Please also pray for me tomorrow. God was gracious enough to have it be our Sabbath
day for the week, knowing that it might be very difficult for me since it is my
dad’s birthday. It’s obviously the first
one since he passed away, so I really don’t know how it’s going to hit me. Knowing people are thinking and praying for
me (and my sister and aunts and uncles and cousins) will make a big difference,
though.
Thank you for reading!
I’m excited to start taking some pictures starting this week as our
camera ban comes to a close.
In case you’re curious, this is a photo I found online of Mogollon. We drive through scenery like this every day to get to the village where the church is. Beautiful, right?!
