It's been a while...

Wow so much has happened over the past few months. I am embarking on a new journey beginning in 5 weeks. However, it looks nothing like I thought it would. My plan for the last 4 years was to move to Peru and continue a life of ministry there. I thought that I would end up there, maybe not for life, but definitely for a few years. I have learned recently that you never know what the Lord is up to! Peru is still in my heart, and it always will be, but I am not going to be moving there at this stage in my life. I will, however, be moving to Hamilton, AL. Yes, Hamilton, population 6,700. I think my family might be larger than that. If you ever get the opportunity to drive through Hamilton, don't blink, you will miss the town completely. At first, I was not sure how I would live in this town. There are no malls, no Target, no Starbucks, really no civilization. Most people would not understand why anyone in their right mind would want to move there. But Hamilton is a place unlike any other. A unique place, completely community driven.

I have determined that we do not fully understand the concept of "community". It is something I am still trying to figure out. Coming from a town of fairly decent size, I do not have the "everyone knows everyone" mentality. So community to me, means the area in which I live, not actually living life with people. In Hamilton, they live life together, and I want to be a part of that!

So, my last day working at CCM will be February 17. I will leave Fort Myers, for Hamilton, that night. My main purpose in going is to follow Jesus. I have never had God open doors like this before in my life, and although it was unexpected, I knew it was God. I now see the importance of waiting on the Lord's time. I am very excited where the Lord is taking me. Please be praying with me!

I'm home

Well, I made it home. It feels so weird being back in the states. I really do appreciate being an American. We are all very lucky to live in the beautiful country that we live in. God was so amazing on this trip. He showed up in a very big way. I will have to write more about everything later, but just know that your prayers were felt. Thank you to everyone that kept me in your prayers while I was gone. I have decided that I am going back to Peru to stay for a little longer. Probably 6 months to a year. I will let God decide the time, I just know I have to be faithful to go. I am planning on leaving in January. So please continue to pray for me. I will update more later!

Just an update

I know I have not been writing a lot, honestly I have been forgetting. We have just been running and running so much. Everything is great though! We have been at the house in Jicamarca a lot working. Yesterday I was shoveling huge rocks into a wheel barrel, it was hard work. My arms hurt today! I am definitely going to build muscles while I am here.

Church has been great! I absolutely love the people here. They are so precious. When I get home I will put some pictures up, for some reason my camera will not connect to the computer here in the house, so I am going to have to wait until I get home to the states. Which surprisingly is in only 19 days. I cant believe I have been here for almost 2 weeks. Thats crazy! I really think Iglesia Vida is going to be great. David and Ceci are great people and will be great Pastors. They are in the middle of a transition right now, but once everything is settled then things will be great. God is truly going to bless that church. I can feel it! The children have such a hunger for the Lord. Its awesome to see. The thing is, here they dont have church like we have church in the States, they dont have lights, they dont have a stage, we dont even really have music. We just come completely empty before the Lord and give hime everything we have. If other people looked at us they would think it was nothing, yet they have no idea. God is coming to that church in a stong way! I cant wait to see what He does!

Aside from the church, God has been doing some amazing things in my life, He has been opening my eyes to some things that I needed to see. I have some things that I am in the process of getting rid of!! Even though it is hard to let go of things, it is so worth it! SO WORTH IT! I dont care how long it takes me, I will kill every other lover in my life. We all have them. For some it may be money, for others it may be a relationship, it is different for each person, but we all have other lovers. I dont want to have any other lovers but the Lord! He is the only lover that I want to have. I love God so much and I just want to be in his will! I honestly believe that I am!

Sunday Morning

Yesterday went great! We had service with the children in Jicamarca, they are so cute. It is very sad to see the conditions that they live in, it´s almost depressing. We gave them bread with Peanut Butter and Jelly, none of them had ever tried PB&J. I was shocked. They all loved it, I knew they all wanted more, yet they were so polite and did not ask. The difference between the kids here and the kids in the States is, the kids here are actually grateful for what they have. They appreciate having nothing. I enjoyed playing with them, they are so much fun to watch. They play soccer with an almost flat soccer ball and had the time of their lives. I´ve never seen anything like it before. The happiness that comes from people that have nothing is amazing. We went out to Larcomar lastnight. It is a mall in Miraflores which is the nice area of Lima. We had fun.

I can´t believe I have already been here for a week. Time is going by fast. We are about to leave to go buy the tile for David and Ceci´s house. I love and miss everyone!!

I am finally here

I know this post is a little late, so please forgive me. Our trip here was a little hectic, we missed our plane and it was not our fault. I will never fly Spirit Air again! We ended up getting here at around 2:30 am. We were exhausted but it was good seeing Ceci´s family. We only slept for a few hours and then woke up to have lunch and go to Jicamarca to see David and Ceci´s house. Jicamarca is exactly what I remember it to be. It looks like Mars. But we loved the house, it is a lot bigger than we thought it was going to be. In Jicamarca we have Prayer and Bible Study on Tuesdays and Thursdays, then we have church on Sunday mornings. The people there are so precious, they are extremely poor yet so happy. Also, they always invite you into their homes even though they have nothing. I really like the people, but not Jicamarca itself. We have had 2 prayer meetings. In the first we prayed with a woman to receive healing. She was elderly and her bones were hurting her. We wanted her to come to the meeting (it was at another house) but she did not want to because it was to hard for her to walk there. But I am believing that she will begin to come to the meetings.

Lima is actually cleaner than it was 2 years ago. I was surprised. There are more people, I dont know how it is possible. It is way overpopullated. Traffic is horrible, and the exhaust is so bad it will pratically choke you. My throat hurt the first 2 days I was here. Ceci´s sister Maria is the cook in the house, and she is a great cook. The only problem is, they eat a lot. Food is like the center of everything. They make huge portions because there are a lot of people here and then there is always some left over that they eat later. They also eat at different times here. Lunch is their main meal and it is usually served at around 3pm. I definitely need to learn some recipes.

So for now everything is going great. I am looking forward to church on Sunday. I will update everything then. Please keep praying for me!!

So Soon

Where has the time gone? I swear the days are getting shorter! Or maybe I'm just too busy. I don't know what it is, but either way, time seems to be going by faster these days! I leave in 11 days! I feel like I have so much to do, but I'm not sure what or where to even begin! I'm not really nervous. I guess anxious is probably the best word to describe how I feel right now. It's only for a month, that's really not that hard. I think that my mom is getting a little nervous though. But I have faith that she will be just fine.

They still do not know who is going to replace me at the church! It's really not up to me though. I am going to try to do a few things to help find someone.

After I get back from Peru, I am going to The CALL on August 16th in Washington DC. It's going to be me, my mom and Gina. I think it is going to be a great time. We are going to go up there 2 days earlier so we can hang out and see DC. We have been there before, but Gina has never been. She will love it!

I have a lot of things coming up in the next couple of months! My life is going to be crazy, but I am definitely looking forward to it!!!

Sunday Morning

It's Sunday morning and I'm sitting in my office doing work! I have been staying at David and Ceci's house this weekend, because David is out of town preaching again. We have been moving boxes of stuff the whole weekend. We are trying to get the house ready before they move, so that we are not doing everything at the last minute. We leave 2 weeks from tomorrow. The time is going by fast!

I have had several people tell me that they would like to support me when I go to Peru. I think that God is already preparing things. I am being faithful to Him, and He is already showing me the benefits of it.

Today is Father's Day, so I am spending the day with my dad. I am going to miss him when I am gone.