Above All...

"ABOVE ALL, SPAIN." That's what this sign on a Spanish navy ship said. I loved it because these people in the service who defend their country, who work to protect it, and do so much more, always have Spain as their priority. It reminded me of what we should do as Christians ~ especially missionaries. A lot of the time we forget who we're working for. As missionaries we often focus on our work, and making sure that we get non-Christians at the church meetings, kids at the kids clubs, and making sure that our messages are super deep and spiritual. Though none of that is bad, we forget why we do what we do. So for me, it's not "Above all, preach" or "Above all, evangelize" or "Above all, Spain, or Colombia, or USA", it's "Above all, GOD." He should be and is my focus. What's yours?

An hour and a half away from our town is another, more touristy town called Ribadeo. It's a beautiful, quaint little town that is so typically Spanish. Because we had to return our borrowed van on Monday, we took advantage of it last week and drove down to this town. The main reason we went down was so that we could get permission to do programs on the streets and in the parks during our campaign there, but, so typical to the missionary's life, the office was closed for a week. So we went to key spots where we hope to do the programs and prayed there, then we went and got a coffee and enjoyed ourselves. Much of what we're doing this month and last month is to prepare us for that week that we will be staying there and doing the campaign. We will go to a camping ground with a lot of the church here and sleep there. We will also be joined by 11 or 12 other people from a Transform team who will be hiking with us on the Camino to Santiago. 

On Wednesday we went back to the puppet stage (finally). Interestingly, we spent about an hour trying to find a way to make it work. Finally we figured out a way and went to work. I think we spent about 3 hours working hard, figuring out numbers and such, but because I don't have the mind of an engineer, I had no idea what to do except what I was told. We finished it, glued it together, marked it so we could know where things go and presto. This is what you get. We realize it's not the best puppet stage in the world, but I am personally proud because we actually made it. At the end, we were so tired. I'm pretty sure we all slept really well that night.

I wanted to thank you all for praying for personal growth, and for growth of the team. God is really working in my personal heart, teaching me, breaking me, and showing Himself to me. On Sunday Oli and I both had to give our testimonies and we were both nervous. I was struggling with the truths that I had written in my testimony. I talked about being God's daughter and belonging to Him, but for some reason I was struggling with believing it; even though I knew it was true. Since I've given it, God has showed me the lies that I've been listening to, and the reasons why I struggled so much with it. Slowly and surely He's teaching me, and molding me more and more. Praise God, the God of forgiveness and mercies that are new each morning. (Ps. 32:1-2). 

As for the team, well, we're doing alright. Each day growing closer, working through differences, seeing God in each other's hearts and words, and learning to love, even when we don't like them. But I truly do love them. 

So some points of Prayer:

1. Praise God for providing the van that we had for a while from OM Belgium. 

2. Pray that the two who went to return it would have a safe journey as they had to drive there and fly back. Also pray that God would somehow provide a van of their own for OM Spain. 

3. Praise God for His word and all that it teaches as we listen to others and do our personal devos.

4. Pray that we might be able to grow more and more in our love and likeness of God. 

5. Praise God for our leaders and their abilities and love.

6. Pray that all of them (field leaders, team leaders, and others) would all be able to guide us and make the right decisions. Pray also that they would grow with us. We love them, and are so thankful for them.