Hello! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope you had great opportunities of sharing, giving and serving those around you in such a special season of the year! We really do receive so much more by giving!
So we finally had our first soccer camp in Guatemala!!! It was truly such a blessed time!! God brought this amazing group together! I loved it so much!!! It was great to see their energy in every activity!
We only had 4 campers, but several volunteers, and we realized that God had something different planned for this camp. Growth for us? Discipleship for the volunteers? Extra attention for the campers? All I know is that His ways are much higher than our ways, and that all God asks from us is to be obedient and He is the one that brings the people and does the work in their heart!
A friend said it in a much nicer way, he said, God is the one that decides what, how and when He does his work, look at Abraham, all God said was, step in front of that big sea and lift that stick, now what happens after that is up to God, and sometimes we will get the privilege of seeing the majestic view of the sea splitting in half, but sometimes we won’t, what will happen in your heart after that? Will you cease to trust? Will your obedience stop? No! because we know the kind of God that we serve, and our what, how and when will continue to depend fully on Him in spite of what we see, because we trust, love and obey!
God certainly did an amazing work! Out of the 4 campers, only 12 year-old Mincho had yet to know our Lord (see picture above), and praise God, he took that step of faith and opened his heart to Jesus!
It was amazing to see how God put those teams together, and how even the testimonies of the volunteers and coaches were relative to the life and situation of their respective camper. God is so into details!
The weekend after the camp I went with a group of friends to a small town in Izabal. A beautiful place with beautiful people!
We had such a good time! We provided free medical assistance in the morning for all the people in the town, and the team prayed with each individual person after they were treated or as they were waiting in line.
We also had a clown and a puppet show where we shared about Christ. I had the privilege of sharing the bad news of sin and the great message of salvation. I’ve never done this in front of so many people.
There were around 300 kids plus some of their parents in the back, it was amazing how God kept me firm and gave me so much love for them, and regardless of my inequities He moved those hearts and around 70 kids received Jesus! Praise God! It was amazing!
After that we had some piñatas, lots of candy of course! Then the guys had a soccer match with the dads, and in the night we had a bum fire with the young adults, we had some worship and shared about our life with God, and the contrast of not having Him. Sharing some testimonies and illustrating with the fire, how together as one, united in Him we can truly shine.
Then we had some fireworks and they loved it! Next day we already saw some fruit, some of the guys that played soccer with them came to church! Then we gave all the kids presents and had a small snack with them, and played with them! I was so blessed to be a part of that!
I feel so overwhelmed in how much God has blessed me this year, how much He has given me the privilege of serving Him and how much He has taught me through you all as well. I want to encourage you all to take a moment and think about your 2007 and savor those moments again, all of God’s blessings through the great times, the good times, times of doubt and even of pain; in your growth, in the people, the love, the unity and harmony of those around you, in your lessons, achievements and even mistakes.
Allow your heart to be filled with thankfulness, be still and know that He is God! Praise Him, He is Holy! May this 2009 be full of goals, dreams and passions that take you from glory to glory in your walk with the Lord! Happy New Year!
My love goes out to you all!
