I feel like the closer the dates approaches the more nervous I get. Last week I was just feeling kinda whack about the whole trip to the DR because there are still a few obstacles in the way. After praying and seeking guidance God showed me that I need to wait on Him. I can’t wait on the people to contribute, or myself, parents, or anybody else but only Him. God is a loving, compassionate, all-knowing, wise, powerful and much more and He knows what He’s doing. I have no idea whats going to happen to these obstacles but all i know is that I’m trusting my God no matter what. Fear might try to convince me that God is not going to do anything, but guess what? YES HE IS! God has been molding my heart so much lately and I’ve been able to experience Him so intimate that it’s amazing to see that He really exists and He’s not this “god” we make up! I’m so ready to leave the country and serve my God in the Dominican Republic. I never wouldve seen myself desiring this so much, or having so much passion for something! God can definitely change peoples hearts.

“Do not be fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires on your heart. Commit your ways to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.” Psalms 37:1-8

“His faith did not leave him, and he did not doubt God’s promise; his faith filled him with power, and he gave praise to God.” Romans 4:20 

Abraham’s faith was so so strong that he would not let anything make him doubt God’s promises. There’s days that I get so down because I don’t understand why God has me where He has me, but I want my faith to give me the power to trust God and not doubt in His promise that He has me where I am for a reason! I don’t want to get frustrated or let the things/people from this world get me down and affect my relationship with God, but I want to have faith that He loves me and has great plans for my life! Lord help my little faith to get stronger and depend only on You, my Creator! I want to trust You at all times even when everything seems dark and horrible. I desire your love and righteousness! Help me to trust You!

Today I started my training for the half-marathon in November. Before going running, I already had plans to not run today, but then I reminded myself that if I want to do this I need to train myself and persevere. I ran 3 miles, and it felt sooo long, but then I remembered that I need to persevere and need to be patient. I noticed how out of shape I am. Ha. I really don’t wanna give up and I wanna challenge myself to do this because I know how hard it’s going to be, and I know there’s gonna be times I’m gonna wanna give up, but the Lord will give me strength to keep going. It felt awesome after I was done, and I’m hoping that I won’t give up because I wanna prove myself that I can do anything I put my mind into. I’m very excited about this and excited to see how God is going to use this in my life, maybe He’ll teach me something throughout the time :).

The older I get the more I realize how badly I need God in my life!

Before coming to the DR my biggest fear was that no impact was going to be made. God taugh me to learn to trust Him and let Him do the rest! Since day 1 our friendships started. New friendships have been made, new disciples, new believers, new life-long commitments, new church plant. So much God did this past month and it was so incredible. God was faithful with us, and He came through so many times! This month I definetely saw God’s hand moving in people’s hearts. It’s amazing to see how God can grab someone’s heart and turn it to Him! This trip has been such an impact in my life and something I will never forget. Not simply because we made new friendships but also because our work here hasn’t finished it will continue because we just started. God has amazing plans for UASD, and I cannot wait to see what will happen between now and next year. All i know is that God is going to keep working in incredible ways using the people we’ve discipled in the past month. Just seeing so many not only coming to Christ but making the decision of wanting to follow Him the rest of the lives reveals the power Christ has in their lives. In particular there is this guy we met, Jonas. He’s been with us for about 2 or 3 weeks now and everytime we talk to him i can’t stop smiling of joy because it’s amazing to see how God is already working in Him. God has taken such a stronghold in his life. Me, Luke, Kelly, and Katya started some bible studies with some of the people we’re following up with and Jonas was part of it. Everytime we met with him he would actually show interest of wanting to know more. If he didn’t understand it he would ask us to explain it more. I was walking back the other day with Him and we were talking and he was telling me how he desires to live for God his whole life and how he wants to let God change him as much as God wants to so that he can become the man God wants him to be! I know God has amazing plans for this young man, and my prayer is that now that we’re leaving that he would hold firmly onto God, the Word, and his Faith. Now i can go back home happy and satisfied because of all the fruit God did over here! We didn’t only evangelize, or disciple people but we were able to start a home group with about 15 people!!!! It’s official the church at UASD has started! I feel so honored and blessed to be part of the team! Praise God for everything! and for facebook so that we can stay in contact with them!

I didn’t get the chance to take some pictures, but tonight we had our closing ceremony. We went to this awesome restaurant and praised God for everything He has done this past month!