Our last blog post was about thriving here in Puerto Rico & how the Lord has been so faithful to meet & exceed our expectations for life & ministry here.
We hesitated to even post about it but we knew that we wanted to give glory & praise for the way that the Lord has breathed life back into our hearts after so much struggle.
He truly has given us such beauty from ashes.
While all of that is still very true, it seems as if after making that declaration & praise ... the enemy kicked up his attacks on our family.
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We had times where we were spread pretty thin over the last few months. We finished our summer season of hosting teams from the States, completed the house project in the mountains, adjusted to a new routine with Josie in Kindergarten, & balanced all of the responsibilities that come with launching Youth For Christ Puerto Rico.
We jokingly declared we were just trying to "survive September" as we spent more time apart than we did together with all of the commitments & responsibilities we had taken on. Thankfully, so far October has been much easier overall.
But through all of the stress, strain & struggle, the Lord has continuously brought us back to the importance, power, and value of prayer.
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As our hearts have turned towards the power of prayer, we were reminded of a way that The Lord spoke to us about prayer before in our journey.
Our 9 months living in Costa Rica at language school was a season of discipline & growth.
Any time that we are asked about language school, we say that we learned MUCH more than Spanish.
We walked away from that season in Costa Rica battered from the battles, but we were praising the One that carried us through it all.
One of the biggest lessons that we learned in our time at language school was that our purpose is not conditional on our location.
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| Our favorite family picture from our time in Costa Rica ... overlooking San Jose |
Little did we know that The Lord was teaching us that lesson because He would be revealing HIS plan just 3 short months after we moved to Honduras.
A plan that would test our faith, require us to surrender even more than what we had already left behind, and ultimately reveal the posture of our hearts.
He is faithful to prepare us for what is to come. Even when the preparation in painful, He is faithful!
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One of the messages that the Lord put on Daniel's heart to share with the student body was about influence.
He challenged the student body to not waste their influence during their time in Costa Rica.
He asked us to consider those that the Lord had placed in our path & realize that while we are studying the language to eventually get to our assignment on the mission field, Costa Rica was also an assignment from The Lord.
As a student body, we looked at Esther 4:14.
This verse challenged us to consider that we are exactly where God intends for us to be "for such a time as this".
Daniel asked the student body to set their phone alarms for 4:14.
He challenged us to pray every day at 4:14 for our community & the influence that our families had in Costa Rica.
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We reflected on this prayer challenge as we have been praying about YFC Puerto Rico & the future that The Lord has in store for the youth of this island.
For over 30 years, Youth For Christ leadership had been praying for ministry to launch in Puerto Rico. A few different times there were some attempts ... but it never took off.
And now ... in the aftermath of the worst Hurricane in almost 100 years ... we are here.
For such a time as this.
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We are digging deep in faith & going to being praying boldly for the future of YFC in Puerto Rico.
We believe that The Lord has plans to reveal Himself to the people of the island in ways that they have never experienced before.
We are expecting a revival & to see the church of PR totally transformed.
We are expecting a revival & to see the church of PR totally transformed.
We are stepping out in faith.
We are setting that alarm again.
We are setting that alarm again.
4:14.
We will be pausing to specifically & intentionally intercede daily for the island, the church, Youth For Christ ministry here, and for our influence to not be wasted.
Our desire is to be found faithful in prayer.
Will you join us?
Set your alarm for 4:14.
Pray with us for PR ...
but also pray that YOUR influence will not be wasted.
