What’s Next???

As some of you know God made some major changes in my heart this past year, which led to major changes in my life!

I came to Argentina with the expectations of returning to the U.S. and not dating anyone. This meant I was not planning on returning to Argentina and I especially was not planning on meeting someone special.

The first major change was that God asked me to go back to Argentina. Missions was heavy on my heart. I couldn’t imagine leaving, especially after spending so much time with the kids in Los Galpones, and never going back.

The second major change is God blessed me with my future husband :). This was a complete surprise but I am so thankful!!!

 

I prayed a lot that God would change and open my heart to what He wants.

So what’s next???

Alex, the someone VERY special, and I are getting married this July. After the wedding we will move back to Argentina. Alex still has about a year or two left of school. During this time we will work, continue to serve, and enjoy begin married!

We are also going to use this time to really pray about what God want’s next for us. We really feel that God is asking us to go into missions but we have no idea what that looks like. All we know is it’s going to be awesome :).

 

So please pray for us as we come to mind, that we will be guided by God’s grace, favor, blessings, and wisdom.

Thank you for all your prayers and support this past year! And may God bless you!

Falling in Love with Jesus

The other day I watched Kim Walker-Smith’s testimony on “Falling in Love With Jesus”. What she talked about is totally what God has been speaking to me…falling more in love with Jesus, focusing on His presence, and truly enjoying Jesus in whatever circumstance I am living.

“Jesus, it doesn’t matter that I’m washing dishes… I just want to experience more of your presence and love.”

“Jesus, I don’t care if my life is a little stressful right now. I know you have a plan, I just want to love you and experience more of your presence.”

Kim shared how she would be cleaning bathroom’s talking to Jesus telling Him, “if this is what you have for me for rest of my life and I get to experience you like I am now, fine with me!” That is the relationship I want and I am seeking. I want to be so in love with Jesus that it doesn’t matter what I am doing. I want to be so in love with Jesus that I truly enjoy Him in all that I do just like David did.

I think I subconsciously had expectations of this year of missions in Argentina. I subconsciously expected a radical year of spiritual growth working supernaturally with the Father in healings, signs and wonders, miracles, etc. I was so caught up in what God might want for me to notice what He actually desired for me.

Don’t worry, I finally got the hint :). It was so simple and something I already desired; to fall more in love with Jesus.

How simple is that? To fall more in love with Jesus! To fall head over heels in love with Jesus. To let Him be my best friend. This is my heart’s desire. When I stopped focusing on the other and started focusing on loving Jesus, I was filled with a different peace, passion, and love.

I am filled with joy at the thought of how special I am to the Father. I am filled with peace knowing He is right here next to me and I am filled with an uncontrolable passion to know and love Him more. I realized that this past year was not only to serve God but learning to really fall more in love with Him. To love Jesus the way He desires to be loved. Don’t get me wrong, I have definitely not mastered how to love God. I honestly believe that loving Jesus is something we can and should always work to improve. All I’m saying is that I see my relationship with Jesus totally different. 1 Corinthians 13:13 says:

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I have read and heard sermons preached on this verse numerous times. To me this verse is so powerful but often overlooked. God desires to be loved. He desires that we are completely in love with Him. What does it mean to be in love with Jesus? For me it is to really FEEl a passion and desire for Him and not just allow the words “I love Jesus” to slip out of my mouths because I think it is the right answer.

I view God the Father as someone who desperately wants me to experience more of His love for me and in turn to uncontrollably love Him back. Of course the greatest is love! It’s the foundation of our relationship with Jesus. Love makes living in this world a whole lot easier as we do everything out our love for Jesus.

So I finally understand that this is my life purpose!!! I am to love Jesus and to constantly seek to be more in love with Him each day… it’s not only my purpose but it’s your purpose too! So here we are. Do you dare take the challenge? Because to be honest, I cannot wait!

Jujuy

February 2nd at about 3 am, we all packed into Germán and Karina’s car for a week at a teenage Christian Camp in Jujuy! The age group was between 12-15. I honestly had no idea what to expect. To be honest I’ve never really been a huge fan of this age group so I was interested in what God wanted to do and show me during the week.

In my workshops we talked about connecting more with Jesus and being faithful to Him as a teenager. We had a blast!

I left the camp with a heart burning for a radical change in the Fathers love over every teenager that was there. I walked away with a passions to see all teenagers succeed in Jesus and not fall into the hands of the enemy.

It’s funny how God changes our hearts when we are open… I walked away with a heart for teenagers.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

God totally surprised me with an awesome Christmas gift this year; my family’s visit! Two weeks before Christmas my dad sent me an email with the family’s flight information. I couldn’t believe it! I broke down in tears thanking Jesus. …

When I allowed God to Change My Heart

I know I have been terrible at posting the past few months, but God has been rocking my world with some major changes!!!

So if you don’t mind… I would love to share with you a little how God has been changing my heart AND changing life.

When I came to Argentina I was on a mission. I came to serve for a year, (determined I would not lose my focus by meeting a guy), return to the U.S., apply for a job and live happily ever after.

After a season of not planning, I had subconsciously made plans only to find God asking me a few months into my trip if He could change my HEART. Clearly this involves changing my plans and without thinking I of course said yes.

I had absolutely NO idea what this would mean!

In August God laid heavy on my heart to return to Argentina after my year commitment. I remember sitting in Starbucks talking with Germán and Karina saying over and over, “I cannot imagine going back to the States permanently. I cannot imagine working to satisfy only myself, and leaving everything I’ve been involved with in this past year behind”.

I knew what God was asking me but for some reason I couldn’t say it with authority. The words “if” kept leaving slipping through my lips.

I told God that I am open to whatever He wants. I will come back if that is His will. I told Him that I want to be where He wants me to be and I only want to do what He wants me to do. I prayed and prayed for confirmation. I found myself on my knees in tears telling Jesus that He is so worthy!

He is so worthy of WHATEVER He may be asking me to do. He is so worthy to leave everything behind and move to different country in faith & service.

The sermon Surrender by Francis Chan completely spoke to me… I could completely relate to how God was speaking to him and his family.

The form that my confirmation arrived was completely a surprise!

God provided confirmation in the form of Alex, a Godly man who is seeking more of Jesus and a life of missions.

I realized later that when God gave me Alex, He was keeping me from being a Jonah. Do I think I would have returned to Argentina if I didn’t have Alex??? YES!!! Absolutely! God gave me Alex at the perfect time HELPING me in the direction that He wants me and protecting me from running away from what He is asking of me in this season of my life. When Alex and I started dating, the words “I am coming back to serve and live in Argentina” HAD to leave my mouth… or we would have an interesting and probably unhealthy relationship.

I am humbled by the way God provides and protects us when we follow Him in the direction He leads us!!! I am overwhelmed and humbled by the way my heavenly Dad helps and blesses me!

So please stay tuned :) as of now I plan on returning to the States in March as planned, but just so everyone is up to date… I will be returning to Argentina! Praise Jesus I am so excited and filled with divine joy!!! I guess that is God’s confirmation that I am headed in the right direction!

I Love Surprises!!!

God blessed me when this crazy cat decided to surprise me! After not seeing my brother for 16 months…

I was so so so excited he was finally in Argentina! Thank you Jesus!

Cesar

I want to share a miracle with you. Some of you know Cesar’s story and faithfully joined us in praying! Praise Jesus that Cesar is mostly healed and on his way to a full recovery!

Cesar is 22 and began serving with us full time in August. The first time I met Cesar was on a prayer walk for Alcance Urbano. I could he has a heart sensible to the Spirit. A week later he went to Los Galpones for the first time where he fell in love with the kids. From there on out he was hooked!

October 13, 2012, while serving in Los Galpones, Cesar made a quick trip back to Germán and Karina’s house. On the way back he had a terrible motorcycle accident that lead to a fractured skull and a comma. Several of the volunteers rushed back and some of us stayed behind with the kids and to serve lunch. We gathered the kids and began praying. One of the moms, Marcella, kept saying, “we have to pray!” She kept telling the kids to pray for Cesar when they go to bed that night.

Marcella was absolutely right! We did need to pray for Cesar! So I asked her,”Marcella do you want to pray for Cesar now?” She told me that she didn’t know how to pray. I told her it was simply a conversation with God; a conversation just like we where having that very moment. So I sat with Marcella as she prayed her first prayer asking God to heal Cesar.  (It was incredible what God was already doing through Cesar’s accident.)

I remember praying as we walked back to the house. When we arrived, Karina rushed off to the hospital to be with Cesar’s family and Alex and I stayed with Fiore and Giuli.

When I arrived at the hospital everyone was gathered, praying, waiting, and trying not to let the situation become too tense. We gathered in prayer praising God for healing Cesar and putting our trust in God’s plan; thanking Him for the miracle we couldn’t help but trust He was going to preform.

The first few days, the volunteers took turns being at the hospital so the family would not be left along. We continued crying out to God holding on to the promises He showed us. I was drawn to John 11, the death of Lazarus. Verse 33-37 caught my attention:

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had com along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.”Where have you laid him?” He asked. “Come and see, Lord” They replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

I know that Jesus loves Cesar. I know He cares about Cesar. I know that He was troubled by the accident.

What I realized, is that it was our job to cry out to God. To ask him, as our best friend, for His help. I realized that in this passage when the people cried out for Jesus to help them, He was moved by the death and wanted to help more so than if they just assumed Jesus was going to help. It completely changed my perspective on how God might answer us. I thought about it from a worldly perspective. If a friend needed my help and never asked me for help but just assumed I would help them, I probably would not be as inclined to help because I’m not emotionally connected and because they never asked me for help. When my friends come to me and ask me for help, I do everything I can to help them! Of course I’m not limiting God to only answering a miracle in this way. I know that He is God and truly cares about all of us, those that love Him and those that hate Him. But my eyes were completely opened to a different perspective and understanding of Jesus as my best friend.

Ok so here come the answers to prayers!

• 2 days after the accident, Cesar’s brother accepted Jesus as his personal savior. His brother told us the day of the accident that he doesn’t believe in miracles.WOW!
• 3 days the family trusts and welcomes us. This is an open door to talk with them and show the love of Jesus. (they are not believers.)
• 7 days after Cesar’s accident he began moving his legs and arms.
• 14 days Cesar woke up for the first time
• 17 days Cesar is fully awake – (we went to visit him!)
• 18 days the doctors show Cesar’s mom the x-rays and his progress telling her this is a miracle because the x-rays and his progress do not match up!
• 3 weeks after the accident Cesar is home!

Praise Jesus! He is home and healing more every day. We give God ALL the glory and praise! I’m still in awe of what Jesus did for Cesar and how he will be used.

We love you Jesus! You are awesome!!!

When my Mama came to visit!

God totally blessed me with a las minute visit from my mama!!! She came early November to visit me, meet Alex, see my life here, and help us with ministry projects. My mom served with us in Los Galpones and …

Thanksgiving in Argentina

Back in July, Germán and Karina brought up the idea of celebrating Thanksgiving in Argentina. Of course I was all about this since it is such an important American holiday with delicious food!!!! I put off the idea of what I would need while cooking this feast for the volunteers until my mom told me that she was coming to visit. God saved me!!! My mom offered to help me, meaning she did all the cooking. I made the salads and pumpkin pie!

Haha it’s not something I’m proud of but it seems that every year something mysteriously comes up and I am unable to help my mom with dinner. Usually it was supporting my brother by going to his Thanksgiving Day hockey tournaments and playing the piano to sooth my mom :). This year I was serving.

Excuses aside we celebrated Thanksgiving on November 9th. The food was delicious and EVERYONE loved it! What came after is a tradition in my family. Every year during Thanksgiving we go around the table and say something that we are thankful for. And when you think about it, we always have ALOT to be thankful for.

So after dinner, we wrote down on a little piece of paper what we are thankful for, and then shared with everyone what we are thankful for this year. It was soo great!!!!

I am so thankful for the way God is working in my life, for my U.S./ Argentine family & friends, my time here in Argentina, they way God is providing, Alex, and most importantly my relationship with Jesus.

 

 

God’s Protection is Incomprehensible.

Saturday we gathered to worship publicly and pass out fliers in Buen Pastor, an area where a bunch of college students gather before going out. It was an awesome time but after a while 7 of us decided to move the worship to the area we usually have ministry, Zona Abasto.

As we worshiped on the steps of a bridge, Germán had the opportunity to share with a guy that was standing on the bridge when we arrived. We met him during ministry a few Saturdays ago. As we were worshiping two guys passed by and said something to us. One of the guys we were with, Cesar, went over to talk to them, pretty soon another guy we were with, Gabri, went over to join the conversation. Gabri and Cesar brought the two guys over to us for prayer. As a group we had an opportunity to pray over the two guys around 3 a.m. on the streets of Córdoba. They were asking Jesus to change their hearts. After they left Gabri and Cesar told us the guys’ original intentions were to rob us. One of the guys had a gun down his shirt.

What we saw? God is so faithful. His love never fails. Jesus used people’s evil intentions to glorify His kingdom. Can you believe that we had the opportunity to pray with two guys for a change of heart and a love encounter with Jesus who originally wanted to rob us?

We are so overwhelmed by God’s love and protection in our lives.