JESUS MOVES

THREE WEEKS!!!

So, I have officially been here for three weeks and it has been absolutely amazing.

I’m super excited and wanted to share a little update on some amazing thing that have happened since I’ve last written.

This past week I got my first team from Korean Central Church in Houston Texas. To say the least, this group of high schoolers were the hardest working, dedicated, respectful and fun group I have ever been with.

From my last blog, we were able to go back to Cangrejo and visit Island, the injured man (Destin) and the house where the mother had died. Jesus blew me away to say the least.

Before going into see Island, I explained her story to the team and how we were there to truly encourage her in her new walk. When entering, she gave us all big bear hugs and just a smile that lit up the room! Then she began to explain what had happened to her after she excepted Christ the week before. She said the night of her salvation, Satan came to her in a dream. He appeared and was angry at her for she had chosen something other than him. Then he appeared in three large stone figures. She explained that she picked up a rock and threw it at each stone figures killing them all. At this point she woke up, picked up her Bible and God showed her Psalm 91:7, “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you”.

As I stood, hearing the translator say this to my team and I, I just looked at her, hugged her and repeatedly said, “mezi jezi, mezi jezi” which is Creole for “thank you Jesus”. I was in unbelief. From there we headed to Destin’s house where I asked him how he was doing since the last we had seen him. He said that after we prayed over him, his leg pain had gone way down, he was able to move a little bit more and found the positives to be able to rest and read his Bible more. I was like what. Ok God. Then, we went back to the house where the mother had past and this time the husband was there. His name was Edmund and we were able to pray over the family once again. Then, we were able to visit a new woman who was 21 with an 18-month-old. She told us she had grown up in the church, but was not ready to be a Christian because she liked to go to the disco, dance, and listen to music and was unable to give that up because of the culture of the church in the DR. The pastor I was with from Korean Central had such an amazing analogy to go along with this situation though. He explained that if her son was to grow up not exactly how she wanted and was doing bad things, would she still love him? She immediately said, "Yes, I would still love him because I am his mother, but I wouldn’t like the things he was doing." He then explained, the parable of the lost son and how although the son ran away, the father was there to greet him with open arms and love. Isn’t that how God is? He is a just God, but a loving God. He greets us with arms wide open. Just like the song, "Oh Come to the Alter", the lyrics go as, "O come to the alter/the Father's arms are open wide/forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ/leave behind your regrets and mistakes/come today theres no reason to wait/Jesus is calling." God was there tugging on her heart. I was so eager for her to except Christ and receive this free gift of salvation, but she did not feel ready to fully surrender. I ended up being overwhelmed in frustration after leaving her home. I was so angry that she didn’t want Gods love, didn’t want this free gift, didn’t want this burden off her shoulders. It didn’t make sense to me. I got to the point where I pulled Pastor Pete to the side and explained how I was feeling. Then, he set me straight.

I was so caught up in myself. I was so angry that she didn’t want it. But, it was a reality check that it is not my will for her to except Jesus. She heard the gospel, she understood the gospel, but just not right now. This was the power of God working within my team and I to plant that seed for God to work within her heart. It was me realizing I had to release that want, and know that God would do the rest.

A few days later we were laying tile down in the church and girl named Marisol walked in. She was 17 years old and 7 months pregnant. I ended up grabbing a translator and started to hear her story. She explained to me that she has been turned away from her family, church, and friends because of her pregnancy. Her parents wanted her to get an abortion, kicked her out, and her sisters still loved her, but are in opposition with her situation. As I was listening to this, I started to explain how this baby is a miracle and how God has bestowed a living person inside of her that she gets to raise. I then explained the story of the women who touched Jesus’ cloak. In this story, as Jesus was walking through crowds, he immediately felt her touch. This woman had been bleeding for 12 years and was an outcast in society, but Jesus showed grace and forgave her, healed her immediately, and gave her life. This goes to show that although the church, family, friends can turn you away, God never will. His love is beyond anything imaginable and his grace is abounding. This got the wheels turning inside of her. God allowed for a seed to be planted and gave me patience for Him to work within her heart.

As an intern, we have been going through passages over what it means to be a disciple. We’ve been concluding that it is a full surrender, commitment, and submission to the Lord. We have to be vertically centered in Him in order to be horizontally proclaiming Him. Overall, God’s love is beyond anything imaginable. His forgiveness is an extension of his love, but God does not call us to be ‘lukewarm’. It is so easy to say you are a Christian and pick-n-choose what part of being a Christian you want to be, but that is not was God calls us to do. We gotta be two feet in, ready and prepared to be able to be okay in uncomfortable situations and places where satan can come at us. God calls us to be the great commission, to proclaim His name, and make disciples of all nations.

Huge God moves. Still can’t believe I get to live here for another month and a half. This week I moved down to our Santiago campus to lead my Rio Vista Church!!! I’m so excited to see how God moves within this team and the work He presents in this coming week.

Stay rad y’all,

Cay

Left: Marisol, Lindsey and I !!

Right: THE. BEST. TEAM. EVAA.