Lima - Days 1 and 2

Most of our team headed to Lima from DFW Sunday morning. Our plane actually boarded on time (which is rare) and we landed in Atlanta, where we met up with the remainder of our team members from Orange, TX. We had a short layover and we able to eat lunch together and get to know one another - four different churches were represented within our team. Then we boarded our plane to Lima and arrived there - after the 5 1/2 hour flight - around 11:30 p.m. The immigration line was ridiculously long, and by the time we got through it, collected our things from baggage claim, experienced a taxi ride in Lima, and checked into our hotel, it was 2:00 a.m. Needless to say, we were pretty exhausted.

On Monday, we headed out after breakfast to our first village. We divided up into 3 teams, and began to prayer walk and share the gospel in the streets. I have been on several mission trips over the past 10 years, and I have never done anything quite like this. As I mentioned in my last blog, I was quite nervous about doing street evangelism. Unfortunately, in the states we don't go door-to-door often enough to share our faith. So it was difficult for me to know how to begin talking to a complete stranger, who spoke a different language than me, about Jesus. But God had it all under control. Prayer is so powerful, and we were constantly walking and praying. Praying that God would lead us to the people who He wanted us to talk to. And He did. Most of the people we met and shared Jesus with accepted Christ. Some were unsure and said they wanted more time to think about it. But we knew it wasn't our job to "save" them, it's the job of the Holy Spirit to convict them. We are simply called to share the Good News with them. Our group members relied on each other when we would get "stuck" and not know what to say next. It was definitely a group effort!

After lunch that day, we went to the home of a man who accepted Christ in the street earlier that morning, along with two members of the local church we were working with. We began to disciple him and showed him how to read through the Bible. He had so many great questions, and we could tell just how hungry he was for something. He just didn't know it was Jesus! We were able to spend about an hour with him, and I was so encouraged by his open mind and his willingness to share his home with us.

We headed back to our hotel in late afternoon, then we walked to a restaurant for dinner. To finish the day, we had worship together at the hotel, as well as a time to share with each other experiences from the day. It was great to hear all of the wonderful things that God is doing in the that village that our team got to see.

Waiting

Waiting in line at the grocery store. Waiting to board a plane. Waiting in line for the bathroom. Waiting to read a blog from a friend who hasn't posted in months (sorry). Waiting to meet the person you're going to spend the rest of your life with. Waiting to hear from the doctor if the cancer has spread. Waiting to see where and how God wants to use you. Is there anyone that you know who actually likes waiting?

I have several friends who feel as if they are in a "waiting period" in their lives right now. Myself included. We are just not sure where God wants to take us next in life or how He wants to use us to bring glory to Himself. Sometimes it's an uneasy feeling. For those of you who know me well, you know that God often speaks to me through music. Well, I found a song - and by "found" I mean that it fell into my lap last week in a cd from a friend. It's call "Waiting Here For You" by Christy Nockels.

{Lyrics}

"If faith can move the mountains
Let the mountains move
We come with expectation
Waiting here for you, I’m waiting here for you

You’re the Lord of all creation
And still you know my heart
The Author of Salvation
You’ve loved us from the start

CHORUS
Waiting here for You
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it's You we adore
Singing Alleluia

You are everything You’ve promised
Your faithfulness is true
And we're desperate for Your presence
All we need is You

CHORUS

Singing Alleluia
Alleluia, singing alleluia, alleluia

CHORUS

Waiting here for you
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it's You we adore
We're singing Alleluia

I'm singing Alleluia
Waiting here for you
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it's You we adore
Singing Alleluia
Singing Alleluia"

{Follow the link below to listen to the song.}

http://youtu.be/e2B3NB3zA9Y

So here is my declaration: It doesn't matter how long I wait to hear from God. I will worship while I am waiting. I will lift my hands high in praise to Him. I will wait with expectation and anticipation. I will continue to seek after Him. I will love Him more and more everyday. Because He is still the Lord of all Creation and he knows MY heart. He still sits on His throne. And NOTHING takes him by surprise. He has made me who I am and He will continue to guide me with each step I take.

Breathe

Several weeks ago, I was asked to lead worship for the HBC ladies conference. I, of course, asked my favorite piano player and close friend, LaRissa, to lead with me. I was told that the theme for the conference was "Generations". Kind of a broad topic. Wasn't really sure which direction to go, but we met together a few times to plan and practice the set. Now you have to realize that when I sit on LaRissa's piano bench with her, time no longer exists. We typically get completely lost not only in worship, but also in conversation, ideas, songwriting, etc. It's not uncommon for us to spend hours - usually into the late hours of the night - together on that piano bench. That night we prayed through some songs and put together a great set:

Mighty to Save

The More I Seek You (Kari Jobe)

Lead Me to the Cross

Blessed Redeemer (Casting Crowns)

Amazing Grace/My Chains Are Gone

Not a God (Billy & Cindy Foote)

Revelation Song

However, each time we met together, we kept coming back to Open the Eyes of My Heart. LaRissa said that over the past few weeks, each time I would text her a question about the set or getting together to practice, that song would come on the radio or come to her mind. So we camped out on that song for a while late one night on her piano bench. We decided to start the set with that song, but I wanted it to be different. I didn't just want to sing the words. I wanted the lyrics to truly be the desparate cry of our hearts! So when we began the set at the conference this past Saturday morning, I talked a lot about baggage. We've all got it. We're worried about something. Nervous about a our finances. Anxious about the future. Concerned about a broken relationship. I asked them to very literally lay it all down at our Father's feet. We spent a few moments praying for one another - asking our Savior for strength to lay our burdens down and to earnestly seek Him, even if only for a little while as we spent a few hours together. As they were praying over each other, LaRissa began to play as I prayed the lyrics over them:

"Open the eyes of my heart, Lord

Open the eyes of my heart.

I want to see You. I want to see You.

To see You high and lifted up,

Shining in the light of Your glory.

Pour out Your power and love

As we sing 'Holy, Holy, Holy'

We want to see You!"

I have sang (and led) this song countless times, but this time something was different. As I read the lyrics over and over again as we sang and prayed through them, I couldn't help but smile. I think that I forget, too often, just how mighty my God is. He is all-powerful. He desires nothing more than to shower me with His love. He constantly has angels surrounding Him singing His praises. They're singing, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD God Almighty, who was and is and is to come." He has always been mighty, He is full of power, and He will always be in control! I sometimes forget that He is "unchageable, unshakeable, unstoppable" (Not a God) and that no matter what is going on my life or in our world, nothing will ever shake Him. Nothing ever takes Him by surprise.

I chose to lead Kari Jobe's new song The More I Seek You not only because it is one of my new favorites, but because of it's simple message: "The more I seek You, the more I find You. The more I find You, the more I love You." The chorus is what really gets me though:

"I wanna sit at Your feet, drink from the cup in Your hand,

Lay back against You and breathe, feel Your heart beat.

This love is so deep, it's more than I can stand.

I melt in Your peace, it's overwelming."

What absolutely beautiful lyrics - "Lay back against You and breathe". Just saying the words brings me comfort. I am such an incredibly busy girl. I am constantly on the go. I am often frazzled and don't take enough time for myself. Don't get me wrong, my world may seem crazy at times, but I absolutely love my life. It doesn't matter how nuts life seems for the time, those lyrics portray to me a picture of laying back against the chest of my heavenly father, breathing deeply, and just sitting with Him for a while. Forgetting about the madness, the craziness, and the baggage, and just breathing. What a comfort.

We had an incredibly beautiful time together at the women's conference. What a priviledge it was to lead those beautiful ladies to the throne. I know that LaRissa and I both enjoyed sitting at our Savior's feet with them.

Me Gusta Las Mantanas

After spending our first night in Tula, we met up with Pastor Nimias, our friend from the local church, and his group on Monday morning and started our journey up the mountain to San Francisco. It was only 36 miles from the church in Tula, but the mountainous terrain kept us on the path for nearly two hours before arriving at the village. *It actually took us closer to 2 1/2 hours the first day because we were marveling over the mountains, the streams and waterfalls, the farmers plowing their fields with donkeys and plows, and the livestock - cows, horses, and donkeys. I learned that I am not so bad at herding cattle, but that's another blog... We stayed in a hotel in downtown Tula and drove to San Francisco every day. However, we are making plans to camp in San Francisco during our next visit in order to save four hours of traveling time each day.

As soon as we arrived in San Francisco, we were all taken back by the sheer beauty of the mountains. One of the first things we noticed was the farmers literally on the side of the mountain (think 70% incline, or higher) tending to their crops - corn, beans, and sugar cane. It was absolutely amazing! We worked together to unload the vans and prepare for our first day of VBS (it's referred to locally as Escuela Biblica de Verano - Summer Bible School). Liz and our Thursday morning ladies' mission group had worked extremely hard for months before our trip to prepare all of the lessons and crafts. We had prepared for about two hours of VBS each day. However, the majority of the kids stayed at the church with us ALL day (8-10 hours) each day. While the men were doing construction work on the church building, we played with the kids, taught them Bible stories, did crafts, had snacks, sang songs, did puppet shows, blew bubbles, played with balloons, and just had a wonderful time learning about them and how they like to play. We taught them about Jesus feeding the 5000, Noah and the flood, the Good Samaritan, and the story of the prodigal son. The days seemed to fly by, and the week was coming to a close much more quickly than I was prepared for.

One day, early in the week, when Shawn was leading a Bible study for the village/church elders and leaders, with tears streaming down their faces, they thanked him over and over for coming to their village. They said they had prayed for so long for God to send people to help them. They told him that we were the first white people to ever come to their village. One of the men wanted to slaughter one of his calves for us to celebrate the return of his son who had been lost. The men (including Pastor Shawn - he was so stoked!) killed the calf on Wednesday, and it cooked in a pit down in the ground all night long for us to eat on Thursday - our last day there - and we had a celebration. The kids' lesson for the day was about the prodigal son. How cool is that? For the craft, we made tambourines, and we had a party! During the service that night, all of the kids used their tambourines while we sang all of our songs. It was so neat to see them be so excited about worship!

It was such an amazing week and I was very sad to see it end, but I know we will visit San Francisco again. I am planning to post a few more blogs about our trip to Mexico - about some people and events that have become very special memories for me.