If this is your first time to my site, please feel free to read the blog from the beginning until now! If you've been waiting a while to read more "reasons" -- here are three more!
5.
While I've been in Oklahoma, I've been a part of a wonderful church family here. Memorial Road Church of Christ has been such a powerful encouragement to me and has helped me through so much of my life here in Oklahoma City. Many of you may already know that MRCC supports and encourages all the HIM workers, but what you may not know is that Piedras Negras is very dear to their heart. For the past few years (prob less than 10 but more than 5), MRCC has taken around numerous trips to Piedras Negras to work on the construction site and encourage our brothers and sisters who live there. Recently, there have been some cancellations in trips, but they average about 6 trips a year to Piedras Negras. Men's Groups, Youth Groups, College Spring Breaks, Fall Break trips, Single's Ministry trips, and a few others all have annual campaigns down to Piedras. I even hear about other ministries happening in the same town who have church families I'm familiar with come down once and a while. What a great deal of work that is being done down in Mexico! In HIM class we've been talking some about how hard it will be to be away from our families and go months (maybe even years) without having that worship experience foundation we've grown up with. However, I'm not too worried about that. Some of the greatest people I know travel down to Piedras once, twice, or three times a year! I know it's going to be such a blessing to me to have that "cloud of witnesses" there every now and then to encourage and support me while I live a new life down there. I'm excited!!
4.
I've got my problems and struggles. Things I know I shouldn't do, that I do. Things I do that I know will hurt me in the long run. But never before have I felt closer to God than I do right now. I think it's because through all of the recent events occuring in my life (fundraising, graduation, leaving friends, etc) I've had to rely on Him to get me through. You know, my life has been handed to me on a silver platter. It's not a bad thing. I've been blessed to have a wonderful Christian family, and great Christian role models. However, I've never had the chance to rely fully on God in my life. I've always had my parents to rely on, my friends to rely on, and even my greatest mentors to rely on. Things are going to change once I'm in Mexico, though. Because once I'm in Mexico, my relationship with God is going to come to a whole new level. It will be harder to reach my parents when times are tough. It will be harder to contact my mentors and friends when I need someone to listen. It's just me and God out there in Mexico, and while that seems a little harsh to all of those who dearly love me and are always there for me now, it's exciting to know that God is going to be my "one and only" for two years. When times are tough, it's God I'll talk to. When times are exciting, it's God I'll come to. When I need comfort, it's God who will give it to me. When I need someone to listen and understand, it's God who'll be there. I can't even begin to imagine what kind of relationship I'm going to have with God after two years of solely relying on Him. It's really, really exciting.
3.
Currently, the big project in PN is the construction of the school for the handicapped and the new church building. The last time I was there, the project was probably 1/4th of the way complete. About two months after our Spring Break campaign, a tornado came through the town and completely destroyed the construction site. It was such a huge blow to the people and church in Piedras Negras, as well as the church family here in Oklahoma. However, MRCC pushed through this challenge and continued sending groups down to help re-build what had been built. To God's awesome glory - not only did they re-build what was destroyed, but they furthered the progress so much so that in only a year and a half from now will the entire project be complete! What an amazing accomplishment! I have full confidence that it is by God's power that this has happened! After a year and a half of working on this project, all of this work will be complete, and I'm excited to see what kind of doors will open up for the school and church. You see, the construction site is right in the middle of a huge neighborhood. I would guess hundreds of homes are within a mile of this site. Can you just imagine what kind of response we'll see once the church is open?! I know that it will be even more than I could ask or imagine because our God is an awesome God! The possibilities are endless! I'm excited to see what God has in store for the people in this neighborhood, and how much of an impact this new church and school can be in the town of Piedras Negras. I mean, how exciting is this?!?!
**Get ready for the top 2 reasons!! Coming Soon!**
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