Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Oh... How He Loves.




My team and I were staying at an elementary school but there was a church camp going on just two football fields away.
We heard the music playing up the hill at the youth summer camp.
Drums. Piano. Guitar. Singing. Clapping.
"Do you want to go worship with the youth??" Asked my co-leader.
"Sure!!" I replied. You don't have to ask me twice if I want to go worship!

As we walked up to the camp however, the music stopped playing. The worship session was over and they were beginning their lesson.
We walked up to the camp anyway and struck up a conversation with the leaders of the camp.
They said that youth were here from all over Belize and they would be here until Monday morning.
As the lady was talking a thought crossed my mind
"I wonder if Glorisha is here?"

Glorisha is a young lady that I met four summers ago when I came to Belize for the first time.
She changed my life... and I changed hers.
We became very close during my time in her village and we even continued to write each other after I left.
However... somewhere along the way we lost contact. And we had not seen each other or spoken to each other in two years.

I had no way of telling if she was in the crowd or not... so I prayed.
"Lord, if Glorisha is in there... please..please let her turn her head so that I can see her"
Not even thirty seconds after I prayed that... a head turned.
It was Glorisha.

Wow. A smile spread across both of our faces.
Could this really be?!?! I motioned for her to come to the back where I was standing.
We embraced and I felt like crying. I was so happy.

She said she thought she would never see me again. And I said the same.
I would be staying in the school for a week so I told her I would come up and see her every chance I got. 
During our times together, we shared what had happened in two years. She told me what had happened in her life.
Horrible things. Sad things. Things that a young girl should never go through. I will not tell her story because it is hers to tell.
But know this.... she is saved.
She accepted Jesus Christ at church camp for real, for the first time. And He is already changing her life.

"I feel so different, my friends are even saying that" -Glorisha
That is the power of the cross. That is the power of Jesus.

I feel tears welling up in my eyes as I reflect back on our times together. They were ordained by God Himself. Our meeting together. Her impact in my life. My impact in her life. We both needed to see each other and God blessed us with that moment.

Stop and reflect on the things God has done in your life... I believe you will see His divine intervention.

"He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us oh,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all."

Friday, July 12, 2013

Soup Kitchen.
















The soup kitchen was my favorite form of ministry that we did here in Peru with the teams.
That red trailer represents more than just a free meal... it represents hope.
Hope to start a new life... hope to live FREE with Jesus.
That word...FREE... is not something Peruvians are used to.

The country is highly catholic and the people are constantly in a state of paying their dues, praying, and confessing their sins, just so that they may go to heaven someday.
We presented the gospel to them and then asked if any would like to receive Jesus.. the hands you see raised and the people you see praying in those pictures are our new brothers and sisters.
After feeding their souls, we fed their bodies.
That is what it is all about. That is what Jesus is all about. Healing from the inside out.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good" is the new slogan for the soup kitchen... taken straight of the Psalms.
It is highly appropriate considering that most of these people never get to see the TRUE goodness and freedom of our Lord because they are held captive by the bonds of the catholic church.

Rejoice in your freedom!! God is good. So so good. Let us never forget.

The Andes Mountains.











"Wow this is beautiful... wow this is awesome... look at this! This is so cool! Oh this is an awesome picture. Look at those mountains. Look at the city! Wow. So cool."

I am sure everyone got so tired of my repetitive and short remarks.
But I couldn't help it!
Hiking the mountain was so much fun and not to mention beautiful.
I am blessed that I got to do it with such great people.