A quick update

I owe the world a newsletter. I am aware of this. I will get around to it soon, I promise.

We just finished a week with 81 group members and we were at a different site than our home-base. So needless to say, we all worked hard and were exhausted. Being as exhausted as we were, our immune systems were way down, and each an every one of us caught a stomach bug that had been passed around the whole visiting group. It was crazy to watch everyone slowly drop, but God was gracious with His timing, because we were still able to get everything done! It was also extremely fortunate that it was only a 36-hour bug.

It was a good week. I learned a lot about serving with a joyful heart, and enjoyed getting to know some of the leaders and students in the group. There was one young lady named Courtney, which gave us an instant bond. I have never heard my name called more times in a week than I did this past week, but 75% of the time, they were calling the other Courtney, which makes sense. Finally they differentiated and I became "Kourtney with a K", something I have long been used to.

I have to start packing up my stuff here, something that is extremely bittersweet. I am excited to see my family and friends at home, hug my mom, reconnect with so many people that I haven't seen in a year, and head out on the next stage in my journey with God. But on the flip side, my heart breaks knowing that my time here has come to an end. I think about having to say goodbye to so many people that have special places in my heart, and it brings tears to my eyes. I think about not having a way to talk to Sofía and encourage her, and I feel a heaviness deep within my soul.

Please pray for me as I am in this last month here in Mexico. I leave three weeks from today and these next three weeks may possibly be the hardest I will experience here.

Cree -- Todo es posible

This is a very busy time for us with groups in and out back to back. Consider this my disclaimer for not having regular posts. :) That being said, I have a minute, so I want to share with you some very cool experiences from this past week.

With our added times in prayer each morning, and the prayer ministry that Casey is heading up, there has subsequently been a focus on prayer in the time the teams are spending here. Additionally, there have been many lessons learned about the power of prayer. We have learned that when we seek God, He WILL answer. 'Clama a mí y te responderé, y te daré a conocer a cosas grandes y ocultas que tú no sabes' -- 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.' Jeremiah 33:3 When we call on Him, He teaches us great things.

It was awesome to learn about how God answers prayer. The group started out praying for little things that they probably wouldn't have prayed for at home: a generator that wouldn't start and a concrete mixer that wouldn't start. This would have been skipped in the states, and the machines would have gone directly to the shop. Here, they prayed for them first, and God answered--the both started.

It was evident that God was doing a work in the hearts of this group and that He wanted to teach us ALL something about His power. One of the pastors on the trip, Steven, came down with an abscessed tooth. Various group members prayed for him, but the pain continued. In the morning, during prayer, we lifted him up together, being persistent in prayer and asking God to heal him. He came to breakfast after prayer with his face twice its normal size. Tammie made him a dentist appointment, and I'm sure he was mentally preparing himself for intense surgery. Before we all left for the worksite, and before Steven left for the dentist, we all gathered in prayer again, laid hands on him, and anointed him with oil. We prayed persistently as an entire team, and then sent him on his way to the dentist, waiting on the Lord for a miracle.

On my way to deliver lunch to the sites, I thought I saw Tammie's truck behind us, but immediately dismissed the thought because there was no way they'd be done at the dentist that quickly. However, God taught me that I need to EXPECT great things from him. My disbelief was thrown in my face as Tammie hopped out of her car right behind me at the site with a grin from ear to ear.

When Steven had gone to the dentist, he quickly diagnosed the problem. The doctor told Steven that the only thing he would be able to do for him was to drain the abscess and then he could do the other work back in the states. To the doctors' surprise, when he went to drain it, it had already drained. The healing process of Steven's tooth had already begun!

I was so excited for Steven and that he was healed, but I was so much MORE excited for all those who could witness the miracle that took place. I was so thankful for how God showed His glory and power, and taught us all more about Him. We CAN pray with faith and we CAN expect great things from God. I still don't understand why sometimes God heals and others, He doesn't, but I DO know for certain that it has nothing to do with His abilities. God wanted us to be persistent and to come to Him, to present our request before His throne.

I praise God for the miracle He did this past week in Steven's mouth, and in the hearts of all those who witnessed it.

Prayer Requests

There is a boy named Misael at the Boys' Home. He is 9 years old but is delayed and is only developed as far as a 6 year-old. Whenever I have gone to the Boys' Home, he has grabbed my heart in a very special way because it is obvious that he needs some one patient to love him. Juan and Rossy do an amazing job at that. Every time I have seen Misael, one of the first questions he asks me is, "When is my mom coming back to get me?" Despite being very well taken care of, the mind of a 6 year-old does not understand why he is in a home away from his mother. In talking to Juan, I found out that one of Misael's biggest fears is that his mother would not ever come back for him.

Last night, we found out that Misael's mother, who had been sick with cancer, and had been in the hospital for two weeks with a brain hemorrhage, passed away. Upon hearing this news, I couldn't keep the tears from flowing out of my eyes. My heart broke for this little boy who was already confused and living many different trials, and now had lost his mother.

Misael is now with his sister, who is a minor, and who is trying not to lose custody of him. Juan and Rossy are trying to help the family do what is best for Misael.

Please be praying for Misael, his family, Juan, and Rossy as they sort through this situation.

imprudent good advice

Monday through Friday, from 7 to 8 am, we have prayer here at the Second Floor. It is a continuation of the prayer times Rick started with the Pastors back in April. It has slowly grown into a time in which our ministry team members, and now group members, join together for a time in prayer, seeking God's face before all else and dedicating the day and the day's work to Him.

As I was reading through Luke and praying this morning, I came to the passage on loving your enemies:

"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

I was struck by how easy it is to graze over a passage like this and not give it any real thought. I was struck by how many times I have grazed over this passage and not given it a second thought. As I lingered in this passage this morning, I was struck by how illogical this teaching is, how very little I see christians actually following it, and how I never follow it.

I am amazed at how imprudent all of these instructions seem. If I love my enemies, what good does that do to me, except make me appear weak? If I do good to them, doesn't that make me a doormat? If I lend to them without expecting to get anything back, am I not just throwing money down the drain and not being a good steward of what God has given me? And yet, I read this, and see that Jesus is very clear in what he says. He does not mince words.

While he doesn't give a list of reasons WHY we should do all these things, he does give a reason: your reward will be great and you will be called sons of the Most High. My initial response to that is to think about when my mom used, "Because I said so," as her reason for telling me to do something--not so convincing, right? But then I remember Who is rewarding me, and Who is calling me His daughter, and it is a lot easier to swallow.

God says in Isaiah 55:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Who am I to tell God what is logical and illogical? Who am I to tell God that it isn't smart to lend out money to someone who is very unlikely going to pay me back? I just plain don't have the right to do that. Part of what frees me up to follow this teaching is that I know God knows what He's doing way better than I do, so if He tells me to love my enemies and to even lend them money, that He's got a good reason for telling me to do it. I may not know what that reason is, but He's got my back, so I can go ahead and love, do good, and lend away without worry.

The more I know Jesus, the more I realize that following him is in many cases going to lead me down an illogical path, save for the one fact that I am following the God of the universe, which, given that fact, is the only logical thing to do.