Sincerely Stephanie

Hello fellow Americans! Stephanie here. As you have read in prior posts, God is moving here in Colombia. I was talking to some of my wonderful brothers and sisters on the team this morning and we were talking about how in the bible, Jesus came to Earth to serve those who were broken, sick, addicts, and sinners. We were talking about how refreshing this trip is and how it is really restoring a lot of peoples faith. It is so awesome to be the hands and feet of Jesus and to set a goal of living a life like his. We all seem to agree that surrendering fully to God and coming here is such an honor and we are so unworthy. It is so refreshing to live a life that is glorifying to God and dedicated to serving others and we cannot wait to bring that home with us as a team. We experienced so many life changing experiences and it is only day three of our trip! We have loved children, laid hands on the sick, preached at parks, lead purity seminars in local high schools, made many friends, and so much more that not even words can express. So on July 16th, this high school came to the church that we are working with and we broke off into purity seminars. Before we left, I felt it heavy on my heart to be an active participant in the purity seminars. I specifically felt called to talk about modesty, self-image, guarding your heart, and stuff of that sort. So we were told that we were going to do a purity seminar and I began writing out a sermon. I wanted it to be perfect and all structured and planned out. I finished writing what I wanted to say and how I wanted to present it but I felt so uneasy in my heart about it so Sarah Saenz and I decided to pray because we both wanted to be effective in what we did and said. The whole time we were praying, I felt God saying "Trust me, just trust me." So I ripped the sermon up and threw it away. After praying some more, I began writing another outline of what I wanted to say (By the way, that is where the problem was. I was worried about what I wanted to say not what God was capable of saying through me.) So I set the outline on this table and helped the team prepare for the students arrival. After separating boys and girls, I went to grab my outline but it was missing! So at first I panicked because I could not remember a thing I intended on saying but then I laughed and realized how selfish I was being. At that point I could not find anything better to do except completely surrender pray that God would use me. So I got on stage and I talked about everything from treating yourself with respect, seeing your beauty and value, to the image that society portrays as beauty, and much more. The words just seemed to flow out of my mouth and the whole time, my attention was drawn to this one girl in specific. After the seminar was over, I was looking for her when our wonderful translator told me that one of the girls wanted to talk to me. So I followed her to the stage only to find out that it was the girl I was looking for. She sat down and told me how she had been a relationship and the boy was very abusive towards her. When he left her she was broken and felt dirty and used. She asked me what it took for her to feel pure. She said that she felt so far from God and she didn't want that anymore but she needed help as to what steps she needed to take to be restored and renewed. I talked to her for a good thirty minutes at least and reminded her of Gods grace and her value and that even though sometimes we don't feel like we are that great or even though we are tempted at times, God loves us and extends his grace to us. By the end of our conversation, we were both crying and my heart broke for her pain. God helped me to see her through his eyes and he taught me that even when we lack words and do not know what to say or how to word it, all you have to do is hug someone and dry their tears and pray over them. We are leading a life of love and I see so many of my teammates stepping up to the plate and serving others. We wanted to just give you a brief story about something that God did so you could see how he is moving in the hearts. And am also so grateful to inform you that he is not only moving in the hearts of the Colombians but also the members of our team. Everyone has had an experience like mine. Every single person on this team is being used in an amazing way and is experiencing Gods presence. Our gifts are being used and God is shaping and molding a lot of our hearts even as we are here. We will NOT come home the same! That is for sure. We miss all of you. Keep praying for health, unity, and that we will just be open vessels waiting for God to fill us and use us. Thank you to all of the awesome prayer warriors we have at home!