Destination: Guatemala! March Update

Hello Everyone! It has been several months since I’ve sent an update because we were waiting for the dates of our trip to be finalized. Guess what? WE HAVE DATES!

We’ve been told that our trip will be from Sunday, July 25th – Tuesday August 3rd. I was quite excited to see that our trip is actually longer that the previously planned dates. Isn’t God great to reward our patience?! Currently I’ve raised $1,050.00 towards the trip, leaving an outstanding $450.00 still needed for my trip to be completely paid! We will hopefully start meeting as a team from May forward to learn more about Guatemala and the ministry we will be doing while we are there. Our trip seems to be moving in a progressive direction, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for me! Please continue to read some of the things God has been doing in my heart recently.

This past weekend we had our annual young women’s conference, DNA, and the theme was ‘Made to Worship’. After worship on the first night, Pastor Tina asked us to open our hands to the Lord to both surrender those things to Him which were making us feel bound, and also to receive from Him anything He had to give us. As I stood there with my eyes closed and my palms open, I had a very real encounter with the Lord. I was positioned to both give to the Lord and receive from Him, and was waiting for the Holy Spirit to reveal such things to my spirit. Nothing came to mind. Instead, the Lord showed me a picture of Him putting His hands in mine, and standing right in front of me. He gently said, “This is all you need.” This encounter with Him was so real it was as if I could feel the weight of His hand in mine.

I continued to stand there drenched in His presence and all I could do was giggle. He was so right! All I needed to receive that weekend was HIM! I remember during the service I thought to myself how refreshing it felt to wholeheartedly worship again. For the past few months I’ve been so distracted by the mechanics of the worship portion of a service that I had neglected to truly worship the Lord. This revelation in combination with God’s sweet embrace made me remember what I was created for, worship! Throughout the weekend, the Lord began to re-ignite my desire to worship Him.

As I said, the news about the trip could not have come at a better time. What better time to start preparing for this worship focused trip, than when the Lord is refocusing my worship? I’m trusting that the Lord will continue to reveal Himself to me and my prayer is that I’m instantly obedient to Him instructions and leadings. Beginning to rediscover my hearts deepest desire has been fun, yet I know the journey is not over. Please pray with me that God teaches me to worship Him how He desires to be worshiped by me. I trust His leading, now I need to also trust myself within those places.

Would you pray about being a part of my support team? All financial contributions are tax-deductible. Checks should be made payable to New Life Ministries International and the envelope (not the check) should be clearly designated with both the trip name and my name. You may include the country/trip name on the memo line of your check but please do not include my name. If the check is designated with my name, according to IRS regulations, you will not be able to use it as a tax deduction. Also, you may make an online contribution through our website at http://newlife.cc/. Because we have to meet deadlines for airfare deposits and other arrangements, I need to have adequate financial support raised as soon as possible.

And if you are interested in being part of my personal prayer support team, please email me or give me a call. We plan to keep our prayer team regularly updated with prayer requests and praise reports. Thank you for praying about being part of our team in any way possible!

New Life Contribution Policy: “Contributions to short-term mission trips are tax-deductible; however, in accordance with IRS regulations, these designated offerings are subject to the governing board’s control and discretion. When contributions for a particular individual exceed trip expenses, the governing board may redirect contributions to other mission team expenses or to another activity within the missions department.”