Saludos!

A lot has happened since I last let you guys in on what I was doing, what with a pretty big conference and the fact that Vanguard is quickly coming to an end (and since it’s technically second semester, they are piling on quite a bit of work as a way to make the students prove themselves ready to work in the ministry), I’ve been pretty busy. Bad news – that won’t be changing for another month or so; good news – after that, things will be getting a lot more relaxed. After the Vanguard mission trip, all that will be left to worry about is the graduation (which I obviously won’t be a part of because of when I joined the school), and then I’ll be free the rest of the summer to help La Fuente in any way I can.

I have been unsure of what I should write about next – so much has been happening lately, and while that gives me more to write about, it also leaves me with less time to write about it. I know you’ve been missing me and what I’ve been experiencing down here, so, here you go! A few things I wish I could have shared with you all before today.

The first thing I would like to share about is the En Vivo (live) conference. A week full of amazing words from passionate and empowered guest speakers, as well as from La Fuente’s very own Pastor Diego (Dwight) Hansen and his wife, Mary Jo (and yes – I am understanding a great deal of the messages. Estoy tan emocionada!). Not to mention incredible worship from a Spirit-filled and energetic team. This week had it all. It was pretty emotional for quite a few reasons, some of which I may write about in later installments, some of which I might tell in person, and others, I’ll probably keep to myself. Either way, I’m glad I was here for this conference, and I hope I can be a part of more during my stay here. I’m still growing from things I dealt with that week. It was awesome in every sense of the word.

(Snippets from En Vivo, from La Fuente’s Facebook page)

Next would be the upcoming Vanguard mission trip (cruzada). I do see the humour in the fact that I am here for a mission trip, and within this mission trip, I will be participating in another mission trip. We as a class have been split up into two separate groups, each going to a different location, doing slightly different things. Both groups are going to Jalisco (the state that contains Guadalajara), but to different places therein. One group, my group, is going to a city called Tlajomulco to help with a church that has already been established. I’m not too sure on what exactly “help” fully entails, but either way, I’ll be more than happy to offer my service. The other group is going to two different cities – Zapopan and El Coli – to not only help out a pre-established church, but they will also be traveling to another location to actually assist in planting a church, which is something I was really hoping I could be a part of (though I am happy to help regardless of what I’ll be doing). To say I’m excited would be an understatement. I was a little disappointed that I would be missing out on my last year to go with my youth group to Love Packages (if you don’t know what that is, I encourage you to check them out – they are a group of three guys in Butler, Illinois doing a great work for God’s Kingdom), but it seems like God, as usual, is probably going to more than make up for it. We leave May 16th, and we don’t come back till May 30th, so I have only three weeks of Vanguard left, in terms of having classes to attend. Then it’s la cruzada, until finally, the graduation, in which I’ll be saying goodbye to a good portion of my classmates, save for those who choose to do an internship with La Fuente. But even then, they could be shipped to any one of the extensions that the church has planted. Either way, I ask that you guys would pray for me and my classmates, that we would have a confidence in the direction that God leads us as individuals, and that we would continue to follow His plan, and whatever else you feel God puts on your heart – all prayers are greatly appreciated. Being a young adult is pretty hard work on it’s own – but we are also college students and missionaries. That’s crazy.

My classmates (more or less).

Lastly (for now), I thought I should share with you guys a couple of the things I found out about myself over the last month or so. The week before the En Vivo Conference, we had a teacher come to the school to teach about the Holy Spirit (he also taught on early church history in the mornings, which I thought was really neat), and during one of his classes, he had us prophesy over our classmates, which scared me to death, for a couple of reasons.

Pastor Julio Loreto

One – I am not exactly a fan of speaking in person, even with people I do know (I prefer to communicate through writing), much less having to pray for people I barely know in a prophetic manner, and the second to last thing I wanted was to sound like an incompetent mess whose vocabulary consisted mainly of what many would refer to as “catch-up words.” Two – I had been struggling with doubt concerning my ability to hear God’s voice, and the last thing I wanted was to sound like an incompetent mess with a painfully laughable vocabulary who also was obviously not hearing from God in any way. I was afraid I would be placed in front of someone and I would say something completely foolish and irrelevant, and everyone would question my “Christian abilities.” Looking back, my fears were actually pretty foolish in and of themselves, but in the moment they were petrifying. In the time it took for the teacher to explain the exercise (praying for each other blindfolded) and for the class to start praying for one another, I had mentally recited several versions of the same prayer around 6 times, begging for any one of my words to be Spiritually-inspired. It wasn’t until I was finished praying for the second person that I really felt a word tug at me. I figured it was for this second person who I had just finished praying for, and I considered just saying it, despite the fact that I had already technically finished my prayer, even though I would have felt really awkward about it. But before I could muster up enough self-encouragement, we were stopped. I felt really guilty about it, because as soon as the opportunity was lost, I was more certain than before that that person really needed to hear the word I received.
My heart sunk in response to my cowardice and indecision. “This is why You don’t talk to me, isn’t it?” I asked through the clatter of my self-esteem shattering, crumbling to new depths. I thought I knew the answer, but yet, I prayed for another opportunity to get that word to my classmate. Then, as if to prove my answer to my own question wrong, I was given a second chance. We were asked to do it again. While we got into formation and were given people to pray over, I heard my teachers make amused remarks that seemed to be directed towards me and/or my person. I pondered the possibility that perhaps He went as far as to bring my lost classmate back to me, but I put that thought aside, trying my best to focus on hearing from the Spirit. The words I wanted to say were still in my mind, and despite how much I tried calling on something else, I was running out of things to say, and it hadn’t even been a minute. So I eventually gave in and said what I had been holding for however long, and as soon as I said it, more things came to my mind, so I went ahead and said them, too. It continued like that for the next person as well. Before I could get it with the third person, however, we were called back again. And I was astonished to hear that the two people I had prayed for felt like God was using me to talk to them – on a personal level. To a greater degree, I was deeply encouraged and reassured, leading me to believe that God was using that situation to talk to me on a personal level. And for the first time in a long time, I cried in public in a room full of people I didn’t really know, and I cried tears of relief, of joy, of excitement (if that’s even a thing). I heard my Father tell me, “I never stopped trying to talk to you. I never will. And if you’re willing, I will use you to talk to others.” I just need to listen and be confident in His word. I just need to know Him, so I can distinguish His voice from every other voice I find myself hearing.
As if in response to this event, this past week we were lectured on the gifts of the Spirit (motivational gifts). And through the testing we did, I found out that my top gifts were Mercy and Prophecy. I find that pretty neat. I should probably invest in some prophet’s robes and a crystal ball or two.

Ha.

Just kidding.

There you have it! I’m going to work to see if I can get another one out this week, but if not, just know that in a few weeks time, you won’t have to worry about waiting so long for my updates anymore.

To those who commented – I apologise for my inability to respond sooner.

@themindful1:
The weather is great! It can be bipolar at times, but nowhere near the insanity I am familiar with in Illinois. So far, it hasn’t been too humid, so the heat has been bearable. Though I hear that won’t be the case soon… As for my Easter plans, I didn’t really do much. It was a pretty regular Sunday. One thing I did find different here, though, was the fact that everything, and I do, almost literally mean everything was closed for at least the entire week. The silence was a little eerie, considering I am used to the noise of the streets. But I guess that’s what happens in Catholic countries, where they take Easter VERY seriously. It was interesting, but also admittedly a little bit of an inconvenience, since the stores were all closed, but I was somehow able to survive, haha.

@edtexb37:
Thank you! And even more thanks for your kind words and ongoing support! I really, really, REALLY appreciate it. You and your family are always in my prayers, and I can’t wait to see you guys again! Hope all has been well with you. Big hugs to all of you!

Thank you all for the support and prayers, and please don’t forget to donate! I am getting to that point where I need to make travel arrangements for my visit back home, and with having to pay for the Vanguard mission trip, every donation is a much needed blessing! Also, if you can take some time out to leave a comment or otherwise contact me, it would do quite a bit to encourage me. Reading them always brings a smile to my face, so if you can spare some time to let me know you’ve been following along, it would make me very happy.

Hasta la próxima vez, Dios los bendiga! Los amo!