Just a random thought

Before leaving to Mexico I saw the movie, Father of lights. If you have NOT seen it, it's a MUST see film. Actually, you MUST watch ALL of  Darren Wilson's film. He is such an amazing director.
Anyways I saw an orphanage called Loaves and Fishes International. They are located in China and they work directly with kids with disabilites. Since coming across that in the movie Father of lights. I've been so drawn to that organization. I don't know what that mean. I'm very curious about it and I'm gonna do some deep search. I would LOVE to go visit their orphanage. I'm PRAYING about it. Please keep me in prayer as well.

To be continued...

Sorry it's been taking me a while to update about my trip. Since being back, I've been working non-stop and then I was headed off to my next mission trip. Please excuse all the grammer and spelling in this post. I'm in a hurry.

I can't believe a week has gone by and I'm not in Mexico anymore. I guess that's just what reality is sometimes. I should know that already but I wish I could just live someone and not come back. :)
Every moment spent at the orphanage was a memory to cherish forever. Our group was so blessed. On Thursday night, we were welcomed by the founders of the orphanage, Jerry and Susy McNally. We had the opportuniy to ask them anything and everything. Of course us girls attacked them with many questions. By the time we left, we had all our questions answered. Maybe one day I'll tell you the story.

I must have to say, as a leader, I was very proud of my girls. They worked so hard on our community service days. Not one complaint came from their mouth. I saw leadership grow in each one of the girls. The girls were challenged from the beginning to love on all the kids and yup, that's exactly what they did. When they left home, the girls were so attached. Some know for a fact that they'll be coming back. I loved watching each girl grow every day. This may sound cliche, but I know for a fact that I saw a before and after change in these girls. Praise the Lord.

On one of the days when we were suppose to spend time with the kids, we took the youth girls aside instead. We decided to share with them about purity and their identiy is Chrsit Jesus. One of my girls name Anna, shared her testimony and man was it powerful. It's amazing how hurtful some testimoies can be when facing that trial, but God can turn it all around to use for His glory. He is so worthy to be praised. Not just that, we're never alone in our suffering. Someone somewhere is going through something we're going through and it's up to us to let them know that God saved us. Oh man! Sorry for the little ramble there. Afterwards, we gathered the girls together to write what kind of man they wanted to get marry to. Then we gave them a envelope with a charm in it to remind the girls that they are worth more than anything. That they are a charm, something so precious that shouldn't be taken advantage of, so they sealed the letter and the charm together in the envelope. That is to be given to the man of their dreams on their wedding day.
After our time with the girls, we got together with the guys. We helped remind them about being a Man of God and a brother, a Protector etc. We asked one of the boys if they ever had this kind of talk and someone said no. So that was pretty cool. An all girl team encouraging the boys to be strong mighty mens of God. After that, instead of writing what they wanted in a woman, we had them make a pink friendship bracelet. It is to be given when they find their love one and/or on their wedding day.
God is so good.

One of my most cherished memories on this mission trip was devotion time with the girls. Letr me explain. Since arriving, we had two girls in charge of devotions. One in the morning and the other one before we went to bed. Before or after devotions, we normally told eachother our life stories. It was so cool to hear their background story. One of my girls came from a very alcoholic family background but never would you have guessed. She was one of the most lovable, joyful, outgoing girl. So the morning before leaving home to the states, my sister and I was in charged of devotions. One of the main thing we wanted to do was to pray for each individual girls. We made sure that happened. Not just that, we had the girls prophesize over one another as we prayed for the girls. God is so good, H'es not just stretching the girls, but He's stretching me.

Home sweet home. However.... when it was time to pick up my luggage I didn't receive mine. Yeah, you heard me. My luggage never came through. It had my clothes, my shoes, and all the souvenirs. It was a bit nerveracking but I rather have it happen to me than to the girls. If I losted everything, oh well. So we arrived home Tuesday, July 17th. The next day I received my luggage so praise the Lord.

God is so good. I can't wait to see what's next in my life.

Esperanza Viva - Mexico 2012

I apologize for not keeping you posted with my Mexico trip. The place where we stayed didn't have wi-fi so I had no access to blogging. So here I am, ready to blog. This blog may be long, I'll categorize it so it'll be easier to read. Please bear with me. :)

Monday, July 9 - Off we go. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 7:45pm. We all met at Redeeming Love Church (RLC) at 4pm. As I arrived to the church, I found out that one of our girls, Aliyah, was not able to go. After 2 years of fundraising, the sheet she was suppose to have signed, she misplaced it. I was so bummed to find out, not just that, I had to break the news to the group. After 10 min, Aliyah pulled up to the church with her mom to say their goodbyes. Soon enough, they went to talk to the pastor of the church about the situation and before you know it, everything worked out. Aliyah was able to go. Praise the Lord. The timing to the airport was perfect. We had enough time to relax, grab some snacks and hangout. As the time started to go by, we found out that our flight was delayed 2 hours. We didn't board the plane until 9:30pm that night.

We landed in Houston, Texas around 12:45am. Our next flight didn't leave until 9:45am so instead of going to a hotel to sleep, we decided to crash at the airport. We found an area that looked like this:

As you can see, my girls were sleeping. Once we found this location, my sister and I decided to take turn staying awake to guard the area. She stood up for 3 hours and woke me up at 4am. At 4am she fell asleep as I stood awake for the rest of the day. That morning when everyone was awake and ready for the day, 2 securities approached my sister, Kao Hle about that hall way. They mentioned how our hallway was a very 'popular' area for cockroach and if we saw any. Oh man, our girls were FREAKED out. It was surprising to my sister and I because... well, I didn't see any when I was awake. As for my sister, that made sense because she killed one on her shift. What an interesting night. Onto day 2.

Tuesday, July 10 - We arrived in Puebla, Mexico around 12pm. When we passed through custom and security, I was hoping that someone would be waving the RLC sign. As we ALL walked past the gated area, no one was waiting for us. Our group was a little confused. As the group leader, I had all the girls go sit and hangout while I figure some things out.

I found a pay phone station, but I had no pesos (Mexican money). Some lady that was working on the phones directed me to a security who didn't really know what to do with a foreigner (me). So she talked to the person who was fixing the pay phones and they said; "You have 1 min to call your person". WHOA, praise the LORD! I got a hold of our group leader for the trip and she said she was on her way, she was stuck in traffic. How amazing is that? The Lord gave me boldness to approach someone to help me out and they did. With the little Spanish I knew - I was able to get by. Hallelujah!

We made it to Esperanza Viva just in time for lunch. We spent the rest of the day relaxing, touring the building and hanging out with the kids. Oh, I didn't mention this but our group was the FIRST to stay in their mission house. Not just that... We were the first young ladies group ever. How cool is that?

To be continued...

Counting down the hours.

I can't believe I leave to Mexico tonight. Time went by so fast, it felt like yesterday when I got the news about going to Mexico. I'm really excited to go to the Orphanage. We are going with an organization called AIM (http://aim.ag.org/) which is partnering with Esperanza Viva. Check out their website if you are interested: http://lovehopemercy.com.

Earlier this week as we were preparing for the trip, we were short on donations. I was so worried that by Saturday morning we wouldn't have anything to pack. Praise the Lord for a great friend of mine, she donated 8 bags full of clothes, toys, jackets etc. Since then, we started getting more and more donations. Some of the stuff I'm taking it on my carry-on. Lets hope I'll have enough clothes for the week. I'm glad I have my sister going on this trip with me, we can share clothes.

Well... Its roughly 2:50pm and I have to be at the church at 4pm to meet with the girls before we head to the airport. I just finished packing. Am I ready, lets hope so. Bible: CHECK, Clothes: CHECK, Camera: CHECK. I think I'm set. Please keep all of us in your prayers. There is 9 girls: Anna, Annie, Alyssa, Aliyah, Allie, Bethany, Hannah, Kao Hle and I. Pray that I won't get any of the girls name mixed up. As you can tell, I have a lot of "A's" to remember. Also, pray that our flights will go by smoothly. Tonight we get in at Houston around 10:30pm and we fly to Puebla 9am. We are planning to sleep at the airport, pray that the girls will do okay with that. Overall, a covering and protection. I love you all. I'll keep everyone posted. Until then, have a wonderful week! Dios te bendiga.

The remaining 2 days...

I can't believe Mexico is around the corner. The past few weeks the girls and I have been trying to find donations for our trip. Donation as in... Clothing, shoes, books, etc. Nothing really came in until this week. Just today I received 8 bags full of goodies but not just me, my sister received 4 bags of school supplies. Earlier this week, all of the girls and I got together to get organized for our trip. We went shopping for our activities that we were going to do with the kids when we get down there. We learned new things, like making friendship bracelets but on your hair. We learned how to face paint and make fun crafts. I'm excited. Everything is slowly coming together. It looks like we won't be leaving until Monday night around 7pm and getting into Mexico until the next day. We have a huge layover in Houston, Texas. More like we have to find a place to crash for the night, honestly I don't know what to do. I still have to get some stuff situated before we leave but they're nothing too big.
Tomorrow the girls and I are getting together at church to start packing and getting things together before we leave on Monday. Yay!

The past month or so now, I've been thinking about work. I think I'm going to step down from the title as the "Assistant Supervisor" at ACR Homes. I feel like I don't work enough to know my residents anymore. I'm only at work a few hours a day and that still doesn't give me enough time to know them. I feel like it's selfish of me to keep holding onto something that I don't deserve. Starting in August I'll be a normal staff, no more Assistant Supervisor title.
I'm not upset nor happy about it. I'm just like... eh. I don't know what's next but I think I'm making the right choice. I feel at peace with this decision. I know most people will continue to work up the ladder, but I don't feel like this is going to be a long term job for me. I feel like my time with  ACR is coming to an end soon. I don't know when but soon.

Faithful to the end

Tuesday around 12pm I arrived at the frog town house, a place where I volunteer in the community. As I arrived, I was told that todays mission was to go out to the community and play a game called "treasure hunt". If you have never heard of that game, let me explain. First off... You pray with a few people and ask the Lord want He to show to the group, then you either write or draw what you see whether it's a heart, a dog and/or a descriptive clothing (whatever it is). Once that is done, your mission is to go out and find this person that the lord wants you to go pray for. Tell him/her what the Lord want's you to say to them.

Here we are out in the community doing our mission in 90 degree weather. Me and heat don't go well together. So after a good hour or so, a few friends and I walked into The Salvation Army thrift store too look round. In other words, to cool ourselves down. As my friend, Jen and I was headed out the door we saw a camera case that she had gotten a while back. Before this scene, my friend Jen was talking to me about that case and how I should have gotten one. Here we are, in this thrift store cooling off and there were a few camera cases, brand new with the tag still one. Wanting to buy it, I couldn't because neither of us brought money. So we started to head back to the entrance. As I was about to go join with the team outside, this Latino lady grabbed my shoulders and stopped me. I was unsure why she would do such a thing, it was so unexpected I didn't even see her. Then she said, "mi country. I want your shirt". I looked at her and laughed and said "I want it too". With that statement being said, who knew that within the next 30 minutes of my time the Lord was going to bless me.

After a good 5-10 minutes of talking to this lady, I found out that she moved to the states 5 years ago from El Salvador and left everything she had down there even her family. She saw my El Salvador shirt and wanted it. To be honest, I did not want to give it to her. This was my favorite shirt from El Salvador. My comfy, workout, conversation starter shirt. I couldn't just give it away. Well, before I knew it I told the lady that I'll be back Friday to give it to her, first I had to wash it. And yeah, she was cool with it. Then we departed from one another. Outside we (my friends and I) go.

As we were all about to leave back to the community house, my friend Jen asked another friend for money to buy my camera case. So... here I am walking towards the store again. But this time I was on a mission for the camera case. Then it hit me buy a shirt, change into it, and give the shirt to the lady as a surprise. So that's exactly what I did, grabbed my camera case, grabbed the shirt and headed towards the register. Well... that lady caught me and took the shirt I was going to buy and said "me buy, you wear, and you give me your El Salvador shirt." I couldn't say no because she took it away from me and insisted me to go get changed. Then I told the lady I had to buy my camera case before I leave to go get changed. Then she took that away and purchased it and gave it back to me. I was like WHOA, should I have let that happened? I mean, I got my El Salvador shirt for FREE. If anything, I should have given the shirt to her without expecting anything back. And that's exactly what the Lord wanted for me. He was whispering in my ear saying how He wanted to bless me. Then it reminded me of the verse in 2 Corinthians 9:7 "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

As I walked away I was blessed with not just one but two items, a new shirt and a camera bag. She was blessed with a shirt that I wore that day, that was originally from El Salvador. And that meant more to her than something I could have bought her for here.

Wow, Abba is so Faithful. Earlier that day I was complaining about the heat and everything. All I asked was... "Lord it's hot and I can't do anything. Can you do something." Never did I expect this to happen. Praise HIM!!!

I pray tonight that the Holy Spirit may open our eyes to see the little things & the big things that our Father in heaven wants to bless us with. Pray that we may rejoice in every situation, even when we have to give away our most prized possession. I pray that we continue to relay on you as our strength and the provider of all. Faithful to the end is who you are, Abba. Amen. 

& it continues...

Praise the Lord

I mentioned how my sister and I were presented with this opportunity to lead 7 girls down to Mexico in July. When we were first approached with this opportunity, not one bit was I concerned about the financial part. I was more concerned about the girls getting all their stuff ready for this trip that I forgot to write up my support letter. Well... Praise the LORD. I was told today that someone donated $2,300 for Gaohle and I to go on this trip. Like OH MY!!!!! The Lord provided like He always does and I can't seem to grasp it all. I'm so happy right now. YAY! Tomorrow my sister and I meet with the girls about the trip. Everything is coming together very smooth. Please continue to pray for this trip.

On a new note: I haven't had a car for 2 weeks. I gave my car over to my uncle and aunt to use while their car was in the shop. While my car was with them our family was down 1 car, so we had only 2 cars to use. Man oh man was it hard. But thankfully I have a great friend by the name, Neng, who was always willing to pick me up and take me places. God Bless you Neng! Today my Uncle stopped over around 8pm to hand over my car keys. Yay! I have my car back!!! 

On a side note: I have 7 weddings to attend this year. Pray for all the marriages that are to come and has already begun. Pray for strength, wisdom, patience and everything for all the upcoming newlyweds. Love you all!

Overall, I had such a great day filled with so many blessings. God bless you as well! Love ya!