Oh, how sweet and faithful our Heavenly Father is. I am posting my first blog from Quito, Ecuador and I am filled with so much JOY in doing so!!!! I want to share with you a few of the promises of Jesus that I have seen His ‘yes & amen’ to, as well as how they started small, beginning over four years ago, and how I have seen them come to fruition + my ministry for my time here. I am more expectant in my relationship with the Lord as well as what He has set before me in this season more than ever before and it has allowed me to see my sweet Jesus in a whole new light. Just as promised, when we seek & knock & ask, we will indeed find, have the door opened, and recieve.
Prosperity. I shared the story in my last blog, but on one of my first days of outreach in South Africa, a woman looked at me and asked, “So what’s your story?” To give you some context, (you can find the whole story in “And That’s a Wrap, South Africa) two of my teammates had just shared real, life-altering struggles they had walked through, and all I could think in that moment was, “My greatest battle is within myself and in my own head.” It does not sound all that spectacular or hard when saying it or typing it, but that truly has been my greatest struggle and almost gets the best of me, more often than not. I look back on the last few years of my life and I realize that I have been saying, “Oh, I am just in a funk” for YEARS. But, as you know, with Jesus, there is HOPE! At our mini-debrief last week, we were asked to ask the Father what He wanted to speak into these three months, and He spoke the word ‘prosperity’ into my heart. So, that is what I am believing Him for, specifically in the prosperity of my mind. In these three months, I am going to choose to intentionally set my mind on things above, and believe Him for prosperity.
Hope. Sweet Amy Beth Word (I love you and miss you x10000) gave me a necklace with the word ‘hope’ engraved. Little did I know how much it would mean to me and how much God would use that word to begin to change my heart and mind. In Hebrews 11 it says, “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” In this chaper, many mighty men and women of the Bible were recognized for the world-changing they were apart of and the sacrifices they made in obediecne to God, but as you can see in this verse, they did not get to see the promises of God, nor the fruit from their labor. In saying that, these people had so much faith in Jesus & Him coming back + their reward in Heaven, nothing else mattered- what a sacrificial way to live, not counting your life as your own. So, as the Father spoke that over my heart, my mind, my family, my ministry, and my life, THAT is the hope I will choose to carry for all of my days.
Dis(abilities). Oh, how near and dear this word is as well as these people are to me. Like I said earlier, a little over four years ago, God gave me a vision of one day opening a safe place for friends with a disability, teaching them life skills and caring for them, as well as educating parents and using that as a ministry opportunity. Not only that, but this vision didn’t take place in the States- it took place overseas. A little over a month ago, the Lord brought that vision back to memory, as I had placed it on the back-burner because it seemed so out of reach, and within 2 weeks, I got to see and interact with and love on 7 of these friends in the community. Be still, my heart. It is with much JOY again to tell you, my ministry for the next three months in Ecuador is working at a day care for these friends- about 50 of them total, ages 2-35, changing, feeding, holding, and loving big. What a faithful Father we have.
To add onto this story, here is something you should know: This ministry is called Camp Hope. Camp HOPE. And, I have to admit, I failed in having faith in the Father and I was convicted. When we got to Ecuador, we were told ministry options, but not told which team would be where. Knowing this was a possible ministry, I convinced myself we would not get it, trying to train myself in a way that I would not be disappointed. Then, on Monday morning when it was announced, the Lord STOPPED ME IN MY TRACKS and reminded me of the promises He had given me, and asked, “Why wouldn’t you believe in those? I GAVE them to YOU!” & He was so right to remind me of that! Friends, what He promises, He will deliver! We don’t always see it, just as the people of Hebrews 11 didn’t, but holding fast to the hope of His truth and His life will far outweigh allllll the other things.
