Meet our fearless leaders this month:
Oscar and Jackie Navarete run a church in San Vicente that was started by Jackie's dad. They have been married for a year and a half and when I asked Jackie if that felt like a long time, she said ' no! I want more and more days' We are excited as a team to get to know these two. I've had the privlidge to get to know her father Jorge, mother Maritza and grandfather Papa Julio and God has just put a supernatural amount of love on my heart for this family. Please, keep them in your prayers.
Jackie is the sweetest ever. She’s 18, has grown up in San Vicente all her life. I was lucky enough to spend my first day in country with her. She took me to the local market and, though she says no, I’m convinced she knows everyone in town. Or at least, everyone knows Jackie! Something she shared with me is when she was 7, she met a translator for a Canadian team who came here and she decided she wanted to do that too. She wanted to be the person who was able to explain her country and the hearts of her people to foreign visitors. Que dulce!
This is Juan Carlos, or as we like to tease him, Juanito Carlito mi Hermanito. Notice that he is eating pancakes, covered in oreo cookies. JC has a calm, encouraging presence and speaks words of truth. He says he’s just a big jokester but man alive can he take it to the next level. One evening, as we were doing feedback our leader Kelly asked Carlitos to join us. We struggled a bit as a group figuring out how he was going to fit into our process, what we would say, not say, bring up, not bring up. In the end we decided to combine the powers of Bablefish and Ashleyfish translation, to keep him in the loop.
He sat there taking it all in then asked if he could say something. Then, for the next 30 minutes he proceeded to pour such wisdom into us that we were blown away. My Ashleyfish translation for Amanda’s reaction was to mime fireworks coming out of her head.
Here is a snippit of what he said to me: ashley: You have love and this is the most important of all things. In Corinthians 13 it explains love very well! I think that God is working in you much love, love for people who do not have hope. Everything only begins by this, love, and all other things are a waterfall of gifts that will flow from your love. Your are the one that is guiding the team towards the necessity of love, and moving them to the love as God does.
What was so amazing is that Carlitos speaks little English, he has only known us for 3 days and all the things he said to us, were said over us last week, by the wife of our last contact, who also speaks no English and barely knew us. This was an awe inspiring jaw dropping example of the Holy Spirit just…flowing through. Consider us rocked.
