Walking in Love in Mexico: September 2013

You know you've been living in Mexico a while when you and your whole team after an afternoon of serving in El Humedo are invited by an 8 year old girl and her 12 year old brother to eat popsicles made from tap water and you don't get sick! haha

Class in El Humedo with the little kids

You also know you've been living in Mexico a while when a supposed 1 week wait for a response on your visa turns into a much longer wait...

I've learned a lot living here in Mexico. God has taught me a lot about letting go. I'm not in control. I cannot control what happens. Yes, I ate a popsicle made with Mexican tap water, and I did not get sick. And with the visa, well we still don't have a response. I guess no response is better than a negative one. However I know God has a purpose for this time, this time of waiting. He's really humbled me and showed me that no matter what happens, His plan is what is best for me.

He's been showing me to fully find myself in Him and not in what I do. My identity is not in that I serve in Mexico. Nor that I am a director at an orphanage. Nor is it found in the fruit I produce. (Hosea 14:8-9) My identity is in who God is.

I've had a lot of plans and dreams here in Mexico. Dreams to start an orphanage. Dreams to start an adoption/foster care program. Dreams to do a million other things. However none of that really matters. Yes, they are great things. But the most important thing is that I remain in Him. This waiting process for my visa has been a refining process for me. A time for God to confront me to really look at my heart. And honestly it is not that pretty. I'm just like the rest of you. I'm not a great and amazing missionary. I'm just a 25 year old girl trying to love and serve her Lord.

God has used a lot of my good friends here in the process. I love that part of Mexican culture in that relationships are so so so important. To be honest sometimes in these past 6 months I felt like I was almost 'wasting time' investing in these friendships and relationships. I know that is a lie, but I honestly felt that way, because I wasn't doing "orphanage ministry". However ministry is life, it is how you live your everyday life. I praise God for the relationships He has blessed me with here in Mexico. Without them I could not have gone through this process. He knows what/who we need. So comforting to know that we have a God that truly cares for us and comforts us.

Some of my best friends here who have loved me and challenged me greatly.

It has also been a blessing to see how through those relationships God is calling a few of my friends to the orphanage Love in Action (LIA) in Chapala to serve alongside with. A couple of months ago a friend from church started serving at LIA as the full time psychologist. Currently one of my good friends who just finished a DTS with YWAM is becoming involved in LIA with discipling the older teenage girls. Another friend of mine is praying about leaving her job to serve at LIA as well. God is bringing together a great team. I never expected any of this. I guess that is the beauty of how God works. He acts, moves and does in ways that we don't expect nor understand.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-Visa
-Communication with America World Adoptions- we are looking into starting a pilot international adoption program with them for international adoptions here in Mexico! Pray for the process with the government on getting permission from DIF to do be an approved agency.
-My friendship with one the girls at LIA (Petty). God is doing some awesome things in her life and it is a privilege to walk alongside her.
-That God would continue bringing together a team to serve at LIA.

ACTIVITIES THESE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS...

One of the famous radio stations here in Guadalajara invited LIA to plant trees at a local forest to give back to the community. So we took some of the older girls to the forest to plant trees. We had a blast!