Dear supporters, family, and friends:
First of all I want to say thank you to all of you for being so loving and encouraging to me since I decided to go on the World Race. Thank you for all of your support and prayers as this was one of the most amazing months in my life. God worked in a mighty way in Haiti and we saw souls saved, people healed, and transformed in Jesus’ name. The Lord also did a mighty work in me and took me deeper in my relationship with Him then ever before. He is amazing and I am so blessed to be able to serve Him. Your support makes it possible and I thank you for being obedient to the Lord and for being His hands and feet through your giving.
When I joined the race I knew that the Lord was calling me specifically to Haiti and now I can see what His purpose was in bringing me there…to mold me and prepare for His calling ahead. While being there I was faced to make some difficult decisions but the Lord has been gracious and has given me such a peace about the choice I made. While I am in love with the World Race and what it stands for, there are some policies within Adventures in Missions that I do not agree with. There were some things I didn’t agree with before coming on the race but I still felt the Lord call me strongly to Haiti. However, while being there the Lord called me to do an extended fast, led by His spirit, for the nation of Haiti and the orphans we were working with there. During my fast it was brought to my attention that AIM has a 3-day policy on fasting and that if I didn’t discontinue the fast I would have to be sent home. As you can imagine I was in a tight spot because I did not want to dishonor my leaders or the organization but to be honest, I must submit to my highest authority which is the word of God. In the word there are countless examples of biblical fasting for more than three days which God would call people to do for specific reasons. As outlined in Isaiah 58, I believe fasting loosens bands of wickedness, breaks yokes, undos heavy burdens, and puts us more in tune with the Holy Spirit. Based on the bible and the examples I see, and the responsibility I believe all Christians have to fast (as explained by Jesus “when you fast…�) I decided to continue my fast in obedience to the Holy Spirit.
As a result there was a misalignment with AIM and myself, therefore causing me to be sent home from the race. My squad leader for the month was amazing about the whole thing and really it came down to the fact that I could not submit to a policy that I felt was unbiblical. As a result, in order to not create more problems or disagreements, I believe this is not the organization for me and they agreed. I arrived home this past Saturday and could not be more at peace with the direction the Lord is taking me.
God is now calling me to Nicaragua to work with two missionaries down there that I know personally. They have an incredible ministry and I cannot wait to serve them there. Again, It has been an amazing experience and God is just molding me in a way that words cannot do justice. The support you gave was the amount I needed in the Dominican Republic and Haiti which worked out perfectly. I will now be working to raise funding for mission work in Nicaragua and cannot wait to see the Lord’s will come to pass. I will also have a new blog where you can read about my ministry work in Nicaragua and about what the Lord is doing in my life and in the lives of those around me. I will no longer be blogging on this site nor taking donations through Adventures in Missions. If you would like to donate towards Nicaragua or just get in contact with me you can at my blog below or an email would be best.
The site is www.InHimIAbide.blogspot.com (In Him I Abide)
You can email me at any time at : [email protected].
God Bless,
Sandra Buitrago
