Hard Questions

God has been working a theme in my life this summer. This truth becomes more obvious to me with every week that has gone by. This past week we served a church in a very low income neighborhood. I was saddened to know that 85% of the children we were working with will, statistically speaking, be high school drop outs. Many difficult questions filled my head as we served at this location. Questions like... God, what kind of difference can I make in 4 days? Why these kids? Why are they destined to fail before they even really begin? So many more filled my head. I don't really understand it all, but God has definitely reassured me that He is still the God of Love in this instance. He is still the God of Mercy in this instance. He is still Sovereign in this instance. His grace is still sufficient in this instance. I think that I might be coming to a conclusion about these difficult questions, but I'm not completely there yet. There are a few things that I do know. Like... One person really can make a difference. God can do anything He wants in whom ever He wants to do it in and can do so wherever He so chooses. We can and NEED to be the change that we want to see in this dark world. Love or lack of it makes or breaks a life in desperate need of it. And lastly, but definitely not least, I can't solve everyone's problems, heal everyone's wounds, pay everyone's bills, or save everyone's soul. Only God can do these things. Now, He can definitely do things through me, but I can't do them by my own power, that's of God and not of me. Wow, that was hard to say. But to God be the glory and not to me.

Like a child

We are to believe Christ like a child believes. I have long since forgotten what exactly that means even if I am just entering adulthood. As we get older we complicate things as we try and find our place in the world. Sometimes this means questioning God's place for us and trying things out on our own for a while.

This week we were at a day camp and there was a little girl not much older than five. This girl attached herself to me, why I don't know, but she did all the same. There was just one problem she spoke only Spanish and I have a hard time ordering at taco bell. It didn't matter though, she still hugged me every chance she got and would talk a million miles a minute even though I had no clue what she was saying, nor did she know what I was saying. That little girl would have followed me anywhere completely unquestioning and I doubt there was anything I could have done to make her not want to run up and just hug me. It got me to thinking about Christ's love and how it doesn't matter what language you speak, what part of town you're from, the color of your skin. He still loves and loves unconditionally. Because of that little girl I am reminded of what an awesome and loving God we live for.

week 7 of 8

Our second to last week as LifeChangers is over and what an awesome week it was! We were finally able to get back to Soccer & Spirit camp in the evenings...I missed it more than I thought. We had not coached a camp in two weeks because of 4th of July and other stuff so it felt good to coach again. Looking back at all the soccer camps we've done so far, it's so interesting to me to see how each time God gives as a group totally different from the others. This last week was no exception. I found myself in a situation where I would normally be out of my comfort zone but I wasn't, instead I found myself blessed! One of the boys at the soccer camp had down syndrome and he touched my heart this week. I wondered the whole week why God in his infinite power and wisdom would choose to create people like this. As I got to know this boy day by day, I saw that he did more for me than I could have ever done for him. Could it be that God created him so that he could bless me and others around him??? This boy radiated pure joy and a sort of uncontaminated, unconditional love that I don't see everyday, not even every year. I was so blessed and will never forget him. He was definitely the highlight of my week :)
Thank you so much for your prayers and all of your support! We are now down to one more week and I ask that you pray that we may finish strong. All I want to do is make myself available to God and be an instrument for His Kingdom. Thanks again!
Love you guys!

LifeChanger
Rocio

Planting Roses on God's Earth

I am so amazed at how quickly this summer is coming to an end. The past weeks have been amazing and very difficult to describe. One of my most favorite things this summer has been our Monday afternoon meetings. Each Monday we meet a person in the Dallas community that have committed their lives to Christ in very profound and wonderful way. With the pass of every Monday my vision of ministry and its limitless possibilities becomes more apparent to me. I am studying to be a social worker and I came into this summer having no idea what I want to do with my life and my degree. Now at the end of this summer I still have no idea what spacificaly I will do with my degree but I do know that my dreams of really doing something to change the world are possible. I do not have to be limited by what society says about people in need but I can be like these wonderful people I have been meeting all summer and follow them with the conviction to live out what Jesus says the needs of the people are and how I can help to serve those in needs with relationship, resources and Jesus by my side. I had no idea what to expect this summer and no idea what I was getting into but I had the awesome chance to really get involved with so many lives and so many lives have gotten involved with me. This has hopefully been an opportunity for me to live up to our names as lifeChangers but if not it has definitely changed my life.

Thank you again for all of your prayers. God has definitely been answering them:)

LifeChanger

Megan

Support Us Please.

Everyone, we are so grateful to hear that you are reading our blogs. It makes us feel so great and more importantly it keeps us accountable and connected to you. We ask that you keep reading. Please please please leave us comments about our blogs. We really want to hear what you think about what God is doing through LifeChangers. All you have to do is click on the word comment on the bottom right hand corner just below the blog.

You can also support us through your prayers. Many thanks to you for those prayers that you have already lifted up for us! Here are some ways you can pray this week:
1. Pray for good health (something that many on the team have been struggling with for the past two weeks)
2. Pray for team unity
3. Pray that we would be creative in our ministry
4. Pray that either the rain would stop or that God would show us how to use the time that we are supposed to have with the kids during soccer camp

Again, thank you all for your continued support! We are so blessed by your prayers and comments. May God bless you as you co-labor with us.

I am blessed!

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" Matthew 25:40

What a blessed couple of weeks I have had. God never fails to have some awesome lesson behind every experience. He is so very awesome!

We were able to complete our third soccer camp two weeks ago. I've got to say that it was the most challenging camp we've done all summer, but God was glorified. He drew about 17 kids into a personal relationship with Himself that week, and really I should never underestimate what God can do with even the toughest hearts. I was reminded this week that Jesus came to heal the sick and not the ones who were already well. Sometimes we forget about that when we do ministry. I want to minister to those that I feel comfortable working with but God says no, serve me here and then I must go. That week could not have ended on a better note. I was so extremely blessed by the Mission Waco Poverty Simulation that we participated in. I learned things about myself, God and His heart's passion for the poor and marginalized peoples of the world. I am saddened because I learned that many times because of my ignorance about the great need around the world I become part of the problem and not the solution. Hopefully, I can take what I learned that weekend and be different. I already am different! We can seek social justice for those who are unable to do so for themselves. God has called us to this too! (Isaiah 61)

The rain has presented us with some what of a problem when it comes to soccer camp. Again, God knows better than we. Although it has rained just about every day we were able to complete our fourth soccer camp inside of a poorly air conditioned apartment room. It was a fantastic soccer camp that we didn't even get to play soccer at. We met some of the coolest servants of God in the entire world. That couple served as a great example to all of us on the team. Their ministry is being stretched and kids are coming to know God as their personal Lord and Savior every day. We had the privilege of leading several kids to the feet of Jesus at this soccer camp.

God is good! I again am so amazed at everything that has taken place in just two weeks. It is a lot of work, but it is so awesome to do this for God. I'm so glad that He sees past my tragic flaws and uses me to do His work. I don't deserve it, but I'm not going to argue with Him about His grace. I'll take it!

Stacy