today dawned sunny, warm, slightly breezy, and completely
beautiful. my soul is refreshed, my spirits are high, and i awoke
with new praises to God. thank you for your faithfulness in
praying for me, for interceding on my behalf when i was in great
need of your support and strength at home. i am so blessed to be
surrounded by such love, to receive your encouraging words,
prayers, and support all the way across the world.
i finished my lasts dose of antibiotics last night, and this
morning I feel very much better. the warmer
weather always brings joy to the jems team, so we spent a very refreshing morning in prayer, singing praise
songs in japanese, and reflecting on what God has taught us these past one and a half weeks in paraguay. i
think the entire team has been affected in some way by the lives and people we have met. paraguay and the
pedro juan caballero community are incredibly needy, of very modest means and lacking in many of the
comforts and luxuries we take so often for granted. i think though, that despite what it lacks in material
possessions, paraguay has blessed us with its true richness. the lives, stories, and people we have met have
made powerful impressions on us. i live each day marveling that i can be here, allowing my life to both
touch and be touched by the new family i have found here. there are such powerful testimonies to Gods
faithfulness, fully genuine and fully powerful for what they
demonstrate about His promises and faithfulness.
i am incredibly rich, for what God has allowed me to learn here, even despite the difficulty of being sick and
forced to stay in bed more often than i wouldve liked. instead of being incredibly discouraged and
disheartened over the course of the past week, i think i was challenged to really evaluate what it means to
allow God to use my life to touch others. i struggle with being overly task and program oriented, always
needing to actively be serving and seeing results. having to lie in bed was incredibly frustrating, but i think it
helped me refocus on my reasons for being here. i think God humbled me, revealing to me my weaknesses
and inabilities to make any difference apart from Him. i have realized now, that any opportunity i have to
speak with someone, connect with another heart, or make a difference is by His grace. . . not anything that i
have within my own power and talents.
and incredibly, this whole situation has become a blessing. because I was so humbled and so broken, God
brought His ministry literally to my door. i was able to develop a really neat relationship with sadato, the
yoshizakis youngest son, whom i now consider my long lost little brother. julianne, i found our johnny! the
conversations we have had in spanish, portugese, and whatever language we have in commmon has been
such a blessing to me, and i hope that i can continue to be an encouragement to this young leader in the
church. please continue to pray for sadato, that he can become thirsty and passionate in his walk with God.
the youth here are searching and are so hungry to be fed, but there seems to be no resources for them. i pray
that they will be strengthened and provide the zeal and passion
this church is starved for.
so, thank you for your prayers for me. for fighting for me at home, pulling for me, and teaching me what it
means to receive the love and support of my extended family. thank you to everyone who took the time to
email me a prayer, a verse, an encouraging thought, or an affirmation. you were all a blessing to me, and i
sensed your closeness and love.
God truly is working here, and it has been so exciting to watch it unfold. please continue to pray that our
team will seize every opportunity and always remember our purpose in ministry. because this is a life
ministry- one in which we minister just by living and interacting constantly with everyone- it can also be very
draining. please pray that we will not lose the initial fervor and passion that we brought to brasil. we want
to remain faithful by investing ourselves completely into every task and every interaction, despite the added
challenge of language barriers. please pray for our spanish, japanese, and portugese as we communicate
what lies heavy on our hearts to these people.
i love you all. que te vaya bien, y que Dios les bendica.