lower still God, lower still.

So a couple of my friends and I went to Currie park today to feed and spend some time with the homeless. A couple weeks ago God put the homeless on my heart when I met a man named Joey walking home one night. He was sleeping on the steps of a church down the street from my apartment. A couple of my friends and I prayed for him and I was up all night just feeling how lonely he was. More than anything I just wanted to sit up and talk to him and maybe sleep out on the steps out there, but Im a female and it looks wrong, so there I was up all night praying for this man in the confines of my apartment.

Then last week while I was at the beach God gave me an idea to buy a couple tubs and fill them with water and wash clothes for the homeless. So today we brought the tubs, along with some soap, shampoo, razors, and laundry detergent. We bought 2 chickens, some bananas, grapes, and water and went. We were still and listened to what they had to say. A couple of my friends played cards. Some just sat and talked.

I spent time with a woman named Kendra. She is in an abusive relationship and was released this morning from the hospital. I asked her if she needed anything washed and I washed her dress el salvadorean style :) she looked over the items that we brought and said she hadn't shaved her legs in a while. So there we were on our knees helping in anyway that we could. She said she felt like a queen! I washed her feet and painted her toe and fingernails. She was so happy! She kept saying how beautiful she felt. She strutted around showing off her look.

Looking up and watching her show off made me cry out to God for him to use me more and bring me lower than I've ever been before. I am no better than the homeless and just to see how one action could change someones mindset leaves me overwhelmed every time.

My friends are incredible and have such a heart to share God's love! Mike ended up giving the shirt off his back to a man. Robbie was sharing the gospel to any person that would listen while Steve was praying for anyone that was receptive. Kenzie and Lauren loved loved loved and listened to what each person had to say. We each have different stories but I hope this entry gives a little insight into what I experienced today.

God's moving. Please keep us in prayer :)

"if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. " -Isaiah 58:10-11

West Palm Beach

So I know this blog is kind of a summer thing but lately God has been doing so much that I have to document it. It also made me think, why should this site only be used in the summer? God is moving everyday in every place that I go so why am I limiting him to third world countries? Well you can expect many stories "Jesus stories" to come :) I am in school and I need to keep up with my home work but when I have a chance to update the blog I shall!

Home

So I'm sitting in the airport in San Salvador my flight leaves in about an hour. I'm sorry for not blogging for the past week we thought my iPod was stolen off the bus, about an hour before I left the camp someone said they found it. Yay! 

Ahhh this week was so incredible! I was able to work with my home church and a team from Ohio. God was working and still is! Even in the subway here God put someone in my path and I prayed for him in the center of subway. Good times! 

I can't wait to see everyone from home! I miss you all so much! I'm not going to lie more than anything I would stay here for a while longer with out a thought but I know God has big plans to accomplish once I get home. So I'm prepared for change and pray that God never let's me get comfortable with where I am in life. 

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support I really really appreciate your love. I can't wait to tell you about some future plans :)

Miracle.

Today was our last day of ministry in el Salvador. We did a couple street programs and worked in nuevo esperanza a place that I worked in last year. The area is a rough area with many of the children having aids and abusive parents. 

After our one program one of the national team members was extremely sick. He couldn't stand up he had a stomach ache and fever. We asked him if he could get up and go to the bus and he didn't think he could. We propped him up and started praying for him. 

We prayed and as we were praying he was sweating and looked like he was going to pass out. We finished and asked him if he felt any better, he said no. The national team leader said if you don't have the faith that he is going to be healed step out of the circle and stop praying. 

So we prayed a second time. When we finished we asked him how he felt. He said I'm good (estoy bien) and our translator asked if he was serious and he said yes! So much so that he said he wanted to jump so he started jumping. 100% better! Praise God for all his wonders :) 

The sole purpose

So I made it back to el Salvador safely! After 21 hours of traveling I am with my home church. We did some street ministry today at a couple schools and a town I worked in for the past 3 years it's awesome to see the kids grow up over the years. 

The last school we were in brought me back to the sole purpose of why I'm here. The kids were so loving! I had two little girls on each side hugging me with a little boy on my lap also hugging me during one of the dramas the one said she needed prayer for her sick grandmother and the other said she needed prayer for her sick sister and then the boy looked up at me and told me his dad is an alcoholic and his home life is "malo" which means bad. He didn't want to let go of me. Usually when a child reacts that way it's because they are abused. I'm finally understanding the language which is the hardest part not because I'm confused but it's hard to look into the eyes of a child who is telling a perfect stranger how broken his home life is. 

Ahhh words can't describe my emotions. Please keep me in prayer!  

Nicaragua

Right now we're on a bus bound for Nicaragua my team will be working there for a week. Neil and I leave on Tuesday to go back to el Salvador to work with my home church. I'm so excited to see familiar faces! 

Honduras has definitely impacted my life! My goal is to raise $1000 by December to feed 500 people for Christmas. In the summer we plan to work in 30 communities in 20 days to distribute food clothes and other goods. I worked in many of the communities this past week and I look forward to coming back next year.

 

Last day in Honduras

This week in Honduras was awesome. We reached around 2000 youth. We went into elementary schools, high schools, and colleges to do our programs    
We prayed and loved on the people here. I really really like Honduras it's definitely somewhere I want to work in the future. I hope to come back next summer with a team for 20 days to meet the needs of the people here.

Today was cool because we had a little kids church service and then later a youth service. Many of the kids that came were from the streets and schools we worked in this week.

Tomorrow is our last full day here and we'll be going to the beach. Monday morning we leave bright and early for Nicaragua. Keep us in prayer!