Into the Hills We Went

 Monday was my first official international missionary performance and I loved it! Now, I don't like the title of missionary for just a short mission trip, but I consider this title as a big responsibility that I have to fulfill daily. I learned in my church, that wherever I am and whenever the Spirit leads me to, I have to be ready, willing and receptive to share about the Kingdom with whoever is in the way, no matter how it looks like to other people around, and that's what being a missionary is all about. Everybody needs Jesus, and even though not everyone wants him, it is not our job to choose who gets to hear about him, but to speak about him to the ones He chose us to.

 This has been my mindset for a while now and it was up until I decided it to be this way that I started seeing all of the divine appointments that God sets for us on a daily basis. If I wouldn't had been willing to do ministry and translate for teams I wouldn't have met my fiancé for example. 

 One of these divine appointments happened on Sunday night when Panama greeted us at the border with a man and his wounded leg. He was asking for money but I knew there was a deeper need in his life. After I said hi to him and asked him to tell me his story, I prayed for him. His sad face faded away and a smile shinned through. He was not hungry, but starving for some love of God.

 The next day, on Monday, a lot of divine appointments happened too when we visited an indigenous school in the mountains of Quebrada del Loro in La Comarca, Panama. All of those little faces lighted up when they saw us getting out of the car after a tough 45 minute drive uphill. I had always wanted to be in a place where no one knew about Christ and I thought I'd need to travel to the other side of the world to get there. However, I got a huge surprise when I asked some of the kids here if they knew who Jesus is and they said no, but what really slapped me right on my face was when after a brief summary of who Jesus is they said they didn't believe in him, nor wanted to. Then I realized and was reminded of the need of the Gospel all over the world, even on our side of it.

 There's a church near by that's doing a great job in the area and the school wants the Bible to be taught in there. Danny and Heather (our contacts here) are doing an outstanding job too, but they need our support in prayers hardcore, so let's pray for them! 

 It was a pretty exciting day that started with me covering up some of my ink and taking my earrings off since we were serving with very conservative brothers, then I got to pray and give a word from The Lord to an old man, I also translated for members of another team that was there that were struggling trying to explain kickball to the kids in English, I taught some soccer to the kids, introduce Jesus to some of them and worshipped with the team.

 I also can't overlook God's mind-blowing provision that happened in such a short time exceeding all of my human expectations. Ashli, my fiancé, posted a blog about it here. You should check out how God used really awesome, willing and loving people to provide for this trip. Thank you for sowing!

It was such an honor to do my first mission trip with the best missionary...

 This trip had a crazy start and I can't wait to see what else God is holding for us in these few days left, I bet it's great.

The Timing of His Will

 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11

 We live for God´s glory, right? He gets glory from His creation and His plan for it, but there’s no way we can get to fully understand God’s plan. No way to know the reason of every little thing in the world and that little fact right there could easily become a very obsessive and frustrating concept. There’s so much we don’t know and that we’ll never get to know because of the simple fact that we aren’t God and we will never be.

 One of the hardest things about following God and His will for our lives is to be able to trust in Him and everything that implies. Trusting that He always has the best thing in mind for us and our beloved ones, trusting that He is always with us even when we’re more afraid and alone than ever before, and also the one that captivates me the most; trusting in His timing.

 This scripture in Ecclesiastes tells us that He has made everything beautiful in its time, but let me throw this out there: what if I’m sick and God does not want to heal me right now or for many years or at all during my lifetime? It wouldn’t matter how hard I prayed, I can’t change His will. That would be a hard pill to swallow, wouldn’t it? What if God does not want us to have a long happy life but instead a very painful and harsh one? Would He still be glorified? Would we still trust in Him?

 If we live for His glory and we are willing to do anything for Him, we will blindly trust in His timing and will. Every time I pray for a stranger’s healing in the street I ask God to heal him so that He can be glorified but then I think: “Well, what if this is not the right time for this person to be healed? Is God still being glorified right now?” It’s not that I lack faith in that prayer being heard but I always want His will to prevail, even when it doesn't make sense or it is the opposite of what I’m praying for, and then I just glorify Him for what He’s up to with that person’s life.

 Before I met Christ I was so mad at God for not doing things the way I wanted Him to, but when I came across Romans 8:28 it all made sense: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Keywords here: his purpose. His desire, his ambition, his dreams for our lives. I can assure you that that is infinitely better than any of our desires, ambitions and dreams for ourselves. Thank you God for being the one in charge and not me! What a relieve!

 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

 When Paul wrote these verses he had been through all kinds of circumstances for the sake of the Gospel. You can tell he’s weary when you read it but he knows better than to get mad at God for not having a smooth ride through the nations, he fixes his eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. So let me ask again, what if we never get to be rich? Or what if we never have perfectly functioning bodies? Or what if we never get to understand why something terrible happened in our lives? Are we gonna be forever bitter about it or are we going to trust in the Unseen? All of these questions become irrelevant when we accept His will into our lives.

 His timing is perfect and so is his plan for our life, it’s a plan to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future (Jer. 29:11). All it takes is trust. Trust that He is in control and that whatever happens, even if we hate it, even if it hurts all the way to our very core, it’s going to be for our own good according to his purpose. It’s all for His glory.