To say that the past 7 days have been easy breezy, would be a complete lie...and since I am trying not to lie anymore I guess that won't be my starting line for this daily life intro. I sit here exhausted physically, spiritually, and emotionally. For 1 month, I have been on the front lines battling face to face with the enemy. I have bruises, injuries, thoughts but no broken bones. I have been carried each day to meet the enemy face to face and in HIS power have walked away victorious...although now I am wiped clean of any speck of energy.

Thank you for pryng for me each week...each month...each day...etc. It is because of an Almighty Gd and your pryrs that I am still here and able to write this to you! So thank you from the bottom of my heart! 

Friday and Saturday of last week are still a blur to me. I thought those two days were the last of the below the belt blows I was going to receive but I should know better, now shouldn't I? Sunday, we a great day in the club. The youth in the SS class are mostly dead but HE has breathed life into several of them and I can see a spark of life in their eyes. It excites me to see them coming, listening, reading His Words, and most of all thinking -- as they are confronted with what HIS Word says and what they have believed their entire lives. Oh what a privilege to be a small part of what HE is doing! That afternoon, I received some more blows but ended the day with a long run with Brody and then some time on the rocks watching Him paint the sky with colors that cannot be described. I sat at His feet, sang praises to His Name, and drank deeply at the well of My Savior's living water...and walked away refreshed!

Monday, I started the AM fasting/pryng and preparing for the youth team to come over. They arrive, we pry together, sing together, and share what HE revealed to us in our time of fasting and pryng as a team. It was a sweet time together and it was cool to hear how HE was speaking to them...unfortunately I have felt like my hears have been plugged from hearing His voice for several weeks but thankfully HE and I had already talked about HIS plans for the team, so I just shared what HE had revealed to me before. We made a community meal, the boys played soccer, we ate, we played more games, we swam, and just enjoyed each other's company. HE has really taken this team and formed them into a family and I praise HIM for that. HE has taken babies and grown them into more mature little guys and gals walking by themselves and eating meat! It is cool! And like clockwork, Monday night I was robbed of my sleep and spent the night proclaiming Scripture over so many of my family, friends, and of course my people.

Tuesday, I met with Vnss for our weekly discipleship meeting. HE is revealing much to her if she would just slow down long enough to listen and allow HIM to move. She allows Him to start the work in her but quickly takes back the control before HE can really get to the root of the problem and remove it. We talked about the idols in her life. We talked about many other things but focused on the idols in her life and allowing HIM to tear them down out of the high places. We finished, I bought some food, ran home, and packed the car to head out to Palenque. Darlys did not call me until 3:00pm and it was pouring rain and she wanted to know if we could just go on Wednesday. Of course, I said yes and unpacked the food from the car and continued working on a video for my local club. More and more negative thoughts bombarded my mind that afternoon...I began to be physically ill, and hit my knees in pryr. I spent the rest of the evening pryng and preparing for Palenque.

Wednesday, we head out early in the AM for Palenque. Darlys was not in a good mood and so I began to pry over her and share His Truth with her the entire car ride. She is learning about spiritual warfare and how real it is in her own life. We arrive, unpack, and meet up with several different groups of people in the streets. The environment is heavy and it is difficult to breathe. The plaza is full of offerings to their idol. The village is full of people from all over who have come to worship and pour out libations. We share the gospel with several people and have several other people yell, curse, and threaten us. We meet with two women to teach His Words and they were distracted and drained as well. We pryd over them, tried to encourage them, and reminded them of the spiritual battle that we are in. We eat lunch and then head out for two more family meetings. We arrive and no one is around except some family members from out of town that we do not know. Darlys and I spent the next several hours just pryng, walking, and speaking to people as they allowed us. We head back to the house to get ready for our youth meeting that evening and it begins to pour rain. When it rains in Palenque, the people do not leave their house and generally the power goes out. We begin to pry that the rain will stop and that the youth will come. It was not in His plan for us that night. A couple of youth came by at different times throughout the night but not for the purpose to meet and study His Words. So, we decided to watch a movie on my computer with the couple who live in the house. I worked out while we watched Facing the Giants. It was good and lead to some good discussion with the couple afterwards.

Thursday, we wake up at 3:30AM to head to the plaza to begin to pry over the plaza as the festival starts later today. It was the first time I felt peaceful in the village in awhile and not to mention it was cooler. His presence was there amongst us as we cried out to Him, sat at His Feet, and worshipped Him. Darlys and I continued to pry as we walked through the village until the sun came up. We headed back to rest for awhile before the women came for the Word study. We had a good time in His Word but three of the women were falling asleep as we were studying...and they did not meet with us to pry in the early morning. More and more distractions came to the door of the house, on the street in front of the house, etc that we stopped and began to pry. HE stopped the distractions and we had a good conversation. We ate lunch and headed to meet with Dncl and Krstn. We found them in the same place as we left them, if not more hostile. There was lots of anger in the people this week but as we talked, pryd, and studied HE released them from their anger and we saw a glimpse of the old Dncl and Krstn. We headed back to the house to meet up with a young lady who asked if we would disciple her. She arrived with another youth (her boyfriend) and they persisted to be awkward until I told them that if they wanted to hang out, then to go to the other part of the room while Darlys and I studied His Words. They changed their attitudes and we had a good first conversation.They both share that they feel spiritual dead and sad. We teach them on spiritual warfare and give them Words to proclaim. We then headed down to meet with Mnl and his family. It was a good time in His Words with the family. As we walked back to the house, I had some time to talk to Darlys and see how she was processing everything.

As we walked and shared, we heard the festival beginning and the sounds of 4 families mourning the deaths of their families members from the day before. We decided to head into the plaza to buy something cold to drink, as it was SO Hot and we wanted to see what they were doing. There were people everywhere, music so loud you couldn't hear anything, drinking, drugs, their idol in the middle of the plaza, and men and women doing all kinds of things in public that should only be done in the confines of marriage. We head back to the house, eat some dinner, and wait for our next group to arrive to meet. They never show. So we pry, spend some time alone in the Word, and go to sleep.

Friday, we wake up at 3:30AM again to pry in the plaza together as today begins the blood shedding/sacrifices to the gods. We had a good group meet together to pry over the village and spend some time alone with HIM. We head back to the house, rest a little, and then Darlys and I head to Turbana. It was a good day on the farm but I was completely exhausted. I spent time with each person, listening, and trying to encourage them. I love that they let me be apart of their families...it is such a blessing! I head back to the house early because I was suppose to meet with Dls for discipleship. She ended up not showing and I spent the evening with a horrible head ache and cramps. On Saturday, I was worthless. I canceled the youth study and spent the day in bed. Dls came over later that evening for our discipleship and HE really opened her up to me! I PRAISE HIM for willingness to share some pretty hard things with me. We read Scripture and asked HIM to help us form a plan to move into a process of healing from these thing that had happened to her. It was good. And then Juancho and his family came in from Bogota to stay for the week for their vacation. I made them dinner, ate with them, and then excused myself as I still did not feel well. I was able to talk to my mom and hear all about her week in Louisiana with her cousin. It was neat to hear how HE had used Mom is some cool ways to speak His Truths and share His Love! What a blessing it is to have a Mom who is focused on His Will and His Glory! I praise HIM daily for my parents.

So that was my week, it was a great week of watching HIM work. It was a long week of mental, spiritual, and physical battles but we know WHO always wins in the end! Thanks for reading...thanks for pryng...and thanks for loving me!!

I am still processing last week and honestly have not been able to write down what all we experienced. Tuesday, there was a revolt in the village. The governor of Cartagena came to the village on Saturday to see how the projects were coming along. He was shocked to see that the leaders had taken the money from the government but had not made many advances and no project was complete. When we arrived, the plaza was filled with the entire village. The two rival leader groups (the original leaders and the young revolutionaries) were meeting to talk through their differences and find out where all the money had gone. Only one group spoke and prevented the other to speak. This did not go over well and fights broke out -- and then one group running and shouting in one area while they other group fled to the other area. The village was in an uproar and full of hatred. It was difficult to breathe in the village as the atmosphere was extremely heavy. Our first 3 meetings, no one wanted to meet. We headed back to the house and began to pry. We left to meet with our last group, we found them in front of the TV but at least they wanted to talk...not about HIM but wanted to talk to us. We learned a lot Tuesday about Palenque and then Darlys began to be sick.

Wednesday, Darlys was extremely sick. I took care of her and she just rested Wednesday AM. I spent time in His Words, pryd, and worshipped Him. After lunch, we met with Krstn and Dncl. They were in crisis in a bad way. There was so much hate everywhere we looked. We spoke Truth to them and ended our talk on the sacrifice of Chrst. Then we headed into a marriage counseling session -- I praise HIM that HE has given me a passion for marriages and I have studied what HIS Words say about marriage. I spoke Truth in love to them, we pryd over them, and left them with homework. Darlys needed to lay back down and so we went back to the house. I met with another couple at the house and then we had the youth group that night. Right as we were about to meet, a huge storm came in and so it was 6 of us but HE was glorified as we worshipped, study His Truth, and pryd over the village.

Thursday, Darlys felt horrible and was ready to go home. We pryd over her, gave her some medicine, and waited for her to stop throwing up. We decided to have the women's group that morning and man, I needed it. My thoughts were being attacked the entire time we were there...feelings of worthlessness, frustration, etc had creeped in. We met with the group of women...I told the story of Hagar...and we talked about El Roi. It was incredible to watch HIM move in their lives and open their eyes to HIM as The Dad Who sees! WOW...HE IS SO GOOD! It was a sweet time studying His Words, pryng together, and sharing. HE revealed to them that they need to be discipled and asked us to do it!! YES...thank you Jss!! We will hopefully begin next week. I have asked Darlys to disciple one by herself, I will do one by myself and we will disciple another one together. I am excited to see how HE uses this time with these women to strengthen them and sharpen them as instruments of His Righteousness. After lunch, Darlys felt horrible and so she laid down again. I told her I would go get the car and we would leave but she was not feeling well enough to leave. So, HE gave us some time for her to rest and HE sent a young lady to our house to speak Truth and share His love with her. She too asked if we could meet with her on a regular basis. After our meeting with her, I went to explain to the 3 other groups that we would not be meeting today, give them homework to meet together and discuss, and that we would meet next week. We headed back. Darlys rested and I just processed what all I had seen and experienced.

The rest of the week is blurry. I will have to write more once I have processed it. Friday and Saturday were very hard days for me spiritually. HE was victorious but I definitely have some battle wounds that I am allowing HIM to heal and strengthen me through His Words. I will write more later....

Sunday, HE told me that instead of continuing with the Who Is Dad study that I should share the gospel with them. HE reminded me that the reason that I feel like they are asleep in SS class each week is because they are sleeping, spiritually. Many of them have never heard the true gospel message, which is the power to save them. So, we had a huge group of youth this week and I gave HIM the class and asked HIM to speak through me. My heart broke as I asked for them to tell me what is the gospel message and share with us how they share the gospel message with others. Oh, Lrd Jss have mercy on your club and these people who have no clue the power of your message as I listened to silence and when a couple decided to share, it was anything but HIS Words but a rehearsed presentation filled with man’s words and so far from the Truth. HE spoke through me as I shared the basic gospel message using HIS Words and not my own. I gave them the same homework that I had given the sports ministry team – to look at a gospel tract and evaluate it based on Scripture. I am hoping in all things, as love does, but I highly doubt that many of them will take the time to grow deeper in the gospel message. Oh I pry that the HS will fall on them, open their hearts, and wake these youth up to Who HE is and what HE desires of them!!

The club service was one of the longest because they were renewing vows and marrying different couples in the club. I was once again saddened, as the pastor did not use any Scripture in his message but pure psychological marriage material. Oh I pry for an spiritual awakening amongst His people in this club. After the service, I met with Vnss for our discipleship time. We had a great time talking about her week, her struggles, and what HE had been teaching her through His Words. HE is truly confronting her with His Truths and she is responding and not running. HE is really uniting us and I am excited to see how HE uses me in her life. I pry daily that she grows deeper in her knowledge of Him, please join me in pryng for her. That afternoon, I came home, ran, and then spent some time in pryr.

Monday was a full day of paperwork, meetings, and HE blessed me with some conversations with family and friends. HE blessed me by giving me a chance to hear from my new adopted family from the jungle and everything that HE was doing in their lives. HE is good. I pryd, prepared, and packed for Palenque.

Tuesday, we left for Palenque and had a great time of discipleship and pryr together on the ride out to Palenque. We arrived, dropped off our things in a house full of Koreans (a team of 8 Koreans were there helping the YWAM ms), and then we headed down to meet with Ddr. We had a great time of study in HIS Words and trying to prepare her to be able to teach other women and young women these stories and material. She has been convicted of many things and has openly shared them with us – without being embarrassed! This is SO HUGE as most people will not openly confess their sins in front of others in this culture but I praise HIM as HE is freeing her from her sins and using us to help hold her accountable. We left Ddr and headed back to the house to see how we could help out with the team.

When we arrived, Pdr was there waiting on us. It was great just to hear his testimony in person and see the light in his eyes and the new outlook on life. He began to share all kinds of revelations with us that HE had revealed to him. He was in shock when we began to show him each of those revelations confirmed in His Word. He had never read the Word and so he bought one and was in shock when he read things that HE had already told him while he was picking mangos over the weekend. It was one of the coolest experiences I have had in awhile to watch his face change as he read from His Word what he had heard from HIM over the weekend. He was so excited to share with others…he actually told me that his people had to hear all of this because they had never heard this before because they were blind. It was so cool! Thank you for pryng for Pdr and continue to pry that HE will reveal more and more to him as he reads The Word. When Pdr left, Darlys and I went to visit with Nz. It was great to be with her again and hear what HE had been doing in her life. We had a great time of pryr and sharing His Stories.  We head back to the house full of people and looked for a place to sleep. That night, HE blessed us with a strong storm that came through and cooled things off for us so that we could sleep a little.

Wednesday, we woke up to the storm and so they canceled the activity that the team was going to do. Darlys and I lead the devotional with the entire group and the YWAM team. It was good to see Darlys once again step out of her comfort zone and teach. She still looks to me for the questions that lead the discussion deeper but she is growing and I praise HIM for that! We left after the devotion to meet with a group of women. The women were excited to see us and were actually waiting for us. They were open to hearing His Stories and had some good insight. Darlys took the lead with this group and did an excellent job. HE is truly transforming her right before my eyes and I praise HIM for allowing me to see His work in her. Although at times living life with someone as you disciple them can drive you crazy, HE keeps me grounded with little nuggets like these of watching her grow in her understanding of Who He is and what HE desires of her. We came back to the house in time to help them cook lunch, serve lunch, and say goodbye to the Korean group. It was interesting to sit and hear about their culture. They shared their struggles and they had lots of questions about HIM and missions. When they left, the YWAM team also left to rest and so Darlys and I had a little time to rest ourselves.

We headed out to meet with another family who was not ready to receive us and asked us to come the next day. We sat and chatted with two of the young ladies of the family. HE guided the conversation and took it exactly to what we needed to understand about this family! HE is so good! We head back to the house and prepare for the youth meeting that night. I cannot tell you how excited I was when I saw Pdr coming in to the house first not only with his new Word but also a notebook and pen. He is so hungry and it is exciting to watch! The meeting went well as I presented the story of creation to club – explaining to them that sometimes it is easier to understand things better when we understand the big picture. There were 4 new guys there who sat by Pdr. They had lots of questions and it was neat to watch Pdr explain things to them and tell them that he was just like them last week but HE had opened his eyes to understand. It was so cool to watch this baby in the faith explain things clearly to his people. Oh pry for Pdr and for what HE has planned for his life!

Thursday, we thought we would have the woman’s group but because of the rain and another meeting Darlys and I took advantage of the morning together. We continued our study together in His Words and HE sent 3 people to the house for us to minister to in different ways. We had a great morning and I allowed Darlys to take the lead in each of our times of pryr and teaching in the house. We made lunch for the couple who lives in the house and then we headed to meet Dncl  and Krstn. Praise HIM that we found Krstn in a better mood but no where near she was a month ago. We talked about the sacrifice of Abraham and how it shows us the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. HE opened their eyes to understand this truth and it was the first time that they had seen the work of the cross in the OT. Please continue to ask HIM to protect this time with this couple and drive them to the cross of Jss Chrst. Ask that they will know HIM not just as a name they use in their pryrs but a name that they know personally and intimately.

After our time with them, we head down to meet with Mnl and his family. We arrive and they are not ready to meet with us. So Darlys and I talk about her English homework and those that are sitting with us join in our conversation. Once everyone arrives, we begin our study and HE has really changed their lives in one week! Each of them had done the homework and showed where they saw stories of sacrifice in His Word and how that drives us to see the work of Jss on the cross. HE truly blessed our time of study and each of them honestly confessed a way that they were not living out Romans 12:1-2. It was so cool to hear them honestly confess their sins with each other so that they could help hold each other accountable and grow together as a family in HIM! It was such a sweet time to watch this miracle in their lives…a group of people who are generally so closed with anything in their lives, yet alone their sin! What a Savior! What power! We did our English class and then Darlys and I headed back to the house. We spent the evening visiting with different people who stopped by the house with different questions or seeking pryr. It is so cool how HE sends people to us and they are not asking for money or food (well the majority.)

Friday, we head out and take two of the girls to a nearby town. We spent the car ride pryng and mentoring these two youth. Darlys and I arrive at the farm and it is always good to arrive there. It feels like home and I praise HIM for these families who have accepted me like one of their own. I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with Stacy or Julie this time because they were busy. I still pry diligently for time as a group of women to pry and study His Words but am waiting on His Time…as to not become the annoying one. I had a great time with Luis Fernando and his family. We just shared what HE has been teaching us, how ministry was going, and different things that had been on our hearts. I played with the kids and then Darlys needed to leave early – so we head out. I spent the afternoon cleaning the house, washing, and processing all that HE did during the week in Palenque. Each and every encounter that we have with HIM or HIS people is changing me and I praise HIM for this time of sanctification.


Saturday, I had an amazing time in HIS Word just resting in HIM and preparing for the day of teaching the youth and young ladies of the club. The youth meeting went well…none of them did their homework on the gospel but we continued with our study of Who HE is and this week we had a new guy come to the meeting. HE is really rising up leaders of this ministry and HE continues to unite them like a family. I love that now I am only responsible for teaching…someone else is in charge of pastoral care, activities, mission field, pryr, and communication. I am pryng about who HE desires to take over my role to teach them His Truths clearly and drive them deeper into His Words. After this meeting, it was time for the young ladies of the club to come over. Only a couple of them actually came but those that HE desired to be there were there and I think that HE blessed them through our study. We spent lots of time in pryr for this ministry that HE is beginning and asking them to take more of a leadership role in this ministry. We did some brainstorming and planning to see how we can effectively reach each of the young ladies who need to hear His Truths and submit their lives to HIM. Please join us in pryr for this ministry and what HIS will is for each and every time we meet together.

It was a full week of watching HIM work in different ways in Cartagena, in Palenque, and in my life. Thank you so much for accompanying me on this journey. Thank you for pryng for these people. Thank you for pryng for me. You have no idea how much it means. Ask that HE will protect our minds and hearts as we head out to Palenque for the third full week in a row. Generally, something always presents itself to try to prevent us from spending this third full week out in Palenque. Ask that HE will protect us as we feel attacked and that there are some people doing things to us (witchcraft). Please cover us in pryr this week as we are out there.