Saturday, July 6, 2013

Everyone is Needy

It`s crazy to think that I`ve been in Mexico for a month. Time is going by so fast, too fast. With so much left to do, I pray that God would renew my energy and passion to proclaim His name here. With this realization, I think that God has shown me that it is a good thing to have a sense of urgency. None of us knows how long we are here for, we are ¨a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes¨ (James 4:14). For those who know Christ as their Lord and Savior, there isn´t a lot of worry about what is to come, but what about those who don`t know the Lord, those who have never heard the name of Jesus, or those who are so lost that they have convinced themselves that they know about Christ, but don´t truly know Him at all. It`s a scary thought to think that the reality of life is that some people leave this world everyday to spend an eternity separated from God. That hurts, a lot. So, what are you going to do about it? I pray that more workers would be sent because the harvest is plenty, but the workers are few (Matthew 9:27). It`s overwhelming sometimes to think about how much need in the world there is for Jesus. The funny thing, I found myself thinking a couple weeks ago was how people love to compare themselves with others to justify the way they are living their lives. That is the silliest thing I  could ever do. Why am I, a sinner, comparing myself to someone else, who is also a sinner, and making my sin seem better in my own eyes? The truth of the matter is that sin is sin and all of it separates us from God. EVERYONE needs Jesus. I need Jesus every single day. I`m not ashamed to admit it, it is such a beautiful, relieving thing to know that I don´t have to do it all by myself. Not even don´t have to, but simply can´t do it by myself (John 15:5). The only person we should be comparing ourselves to is Christ, the author and perfector of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). I guess that´s enough preaching for today...haha

This week in the village was filled with more conversations with some of the friends my team and I have made. We met up to teach English to some kids on Tuesday and then ate lunch with them and their family. We met a lot of new people that day. We met a man who wants to teach us about Mexico and help us learn some Spanish, so on Tuesday and Thursday we visited him. On Thursday, Katie got to share the demon possessed story with him and he ended up reading a couple chapters in the bible after that. On Wednesday, we played worship music in the middle of the village. Jose, one of our friends from Oaxaca, came with us all this week to the village. He is an awesome guitar player and singer. Unfortunately, he was sick and wasn´t able to sing, but Natasha, Katie, and I tried to pick up the slack. I learned a lot of songs in Spanish, that I´m excited to be able to bring back to the states with me! Sometimes hearing music in a different language makes it sound so much more beautiful. We plan on doing some more singing in the village another time when Jose is feeling better. After playing music, we climbed to the top of a hill and then from there to the top of a mountain. I can check that off my bucket list now haha. I probably will never do that again, but I have to admit the view was incredible. I just sat there and prayed over the village and started reading my bible. I think at that moment was when I really fell in love with Mexico. 

This week I went to Casa Hogar, the children´s home here, two different days in the morning. It is such a beautiful thing to love on those kids. There was a team from Tennessee working there doing bible studies, crafts, and playing with them, so I´m glad I got to join in on that. I can´t wait to go again! The 4th of July was definitely different that I`m used to, I guess that was to be expected. We had a party on the 5th to celebrate. There was tons of food and great people to share the day with. Today, we´re going to a baseball game and I`m really excited about that! I might even buy a jersey! Then, church Sunday and the week starts again! We are planning on continuing to teach the kids in my village every Tuesday and meet up with the man helping us with our Spanish every Monday and Thursday. 

-Please pray for the relationships we have already made to deepen
-Please pray that the Lord will be working in the man´s heart as he is hearing and reading the Word
-Please pray for the kids that we are teaching English to, that they would be receptive to talking about their faith as well as their family
-Please pray that I would continuously rely on God´s strength and not my own
-Please pray that I would realize my need for Jesus everyday
-Please pray that God´s love would move me in to action
-Please pray that I would learn more of the language and culture to better relate to the people here
-Please pray for health for me and my team
-Please pray for encouraging encounters this upcoming week

Love you all and will update you next week! Thanks for your prayers and support!