Privileged

Oh my, I haven't posted in a while, have I? The team is safely home. Continue to pray for those they left behind in Mission, especially the boys with whom they had a lot of Bible study and discussion!

Update in my life: I'm not going to be able to go in May, but that's just fine. The fact that I'm totally cool with it is pretty amazing, and I encourage you to rejoice with me in the victory God has given me in this area. He is trustworthy and good!

But that's not the topic I'm going to explore in this post. I wanted to talk about a quote that has impacted me greatly, and I have too much to say for a status update, so I'm typing it out here. :)

The quote:

Mission is ultimately not a human response to human need. The Church's involvement in mission is its privileged participation in the actions of the triune God. -Tim Dearborn

I read this quote one evening while I was dragging my feet, dreading an upcoming moment of dying to my flesh. I thought, "Wow, that's good. Missions is a privilege! Deep." And then the Holy Spirit reminded me that every moment of my life is a mission; that God has called me to be His ambassador everywhere I go. Which meant that the act of selflessness that I was so dreading was more than sacrifice, more than obligation, it was a privilege!

God is sovereign, and has worked out all of history for the good of His people and the glory of His name. Every second of my life is a blessed chance to be a part of that master plan. God is working! The Creator and Sustainer of the world! But I get the opportunity to be the one He uses to accomplish His work! It's a privilege that not everyone gets.

And not just the suffering part! Yes, emptying myself like Christ is a privilege and a gift, but sometimes in life I don't have to sacrifice anything. Sometimes I can just sit down to dinner and enjoy an evening with my family. Am I any less on the mission field? No! In whatever I do, whether I eat or drink, I need to do it to the glory of God. I have the opportunity to serve Him still, and to join in privileged participation in the actions of the triune God even then.

This is amazing stuff. This is hard stuff. More than anything, this is encouraging stuff! A week ago I heard sermon after sermon on how Christ has given me victory over sin and the Enemy (I encourage you to listen to them!). Christ has won the victory and defeated sin and death, thus the end is certain. I WILL prevail. With that in mind, to be the tool God uses to accomplish His work is even more of a privilege. It's not the privilege of a knight who gets to go fight a dragon and maybe marry a princess. It's the privilege of the herald who is given the honor of running ahead to tell everyone that the King has been victorious. No matter what crosses our path, the battle is won. And He has chosen us to get to spread this glad news. It is a privilege!

So go. Like Christ, die to yourself for the joy set before you. Refrain from wasting your time on Tetris, and instead discipline yourself into becoming a Proverbs 31 woman! Maybe actually clean your room for once.
Wait... this is a public blog, not a private journal! I hope that the post has made sense, and been an encouragement to you.

May the love and peace of Christ be with you always!
Sarah

A very, very quick update!

I don't have a whole lot to report, and anything I do have is covered very well by Aaron over at http://christpreeminent.blogspot.com/. I felt like I should post something, though, so here you go! They've been visiting, mowing grass, and pretty much getting things done.

Tomorrow (Saturday) morning is the men's breakfast, and have invited several boys and their fathers. Also, instead of having a pool day, tomorrow evening they hope to have a movie night for some of the girls, and organize a soccer game in a nearby neighborhood. Pray that they have a very encouraging and productive Saturday!


Sorry this is so short and lacking in information! I encourage you to check out Aaron's blog. Personally, even though I've been able to keep in touch with them and get a lot of information, I'll be glad when they're home and can tell me about it face-to-face!

Love & Peace,
Sarah

My name is Ruhama!

Now that I've finally updated you on what's going on in Mission, I'm going to take this time to be very selfish and write about myself. I enjoy talking about Russian literature, coffee, ice cream cones, and long walks on the beach...

Haha, just kidding! I'm not here to write a single's ad. If this post goes according to plan, I'm here to glorify God and ask for your prayers.

Let me start by warning you that my emotions have been extremely volatile during the last few days. I'm not sure whether it's just me, or maybe the 3 pounds of sugar I ate in 36 hours. Whatever it is, I'm afraid I've been something of a drama queen. If you're reading this and you've had to put up with my mood swings, I ask again for your forgiveness, and thank you for your grace. Especially if your last name is Weber.

More than anything, I've been discontent. And just when I told myself I'd found contentedness in Christ, I was proven very wrong. I learned yesterday that there is a very good chance that I will not be able to return to Mission next month, and the news crushed me. It tore off the mask, and revealed to me the festering disease I'd been trying to ignore. I looked at my heart attitude, and I found this:

"My whole life is one of waiting! I graduated in October of 2010, and it wasn't until this January that I had anything close to long-term direction. Until February, I was waiting for a job. Even now I'm waiting for clear direction on when and whether or not I should go to language school. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! And what's up with this wait for my husband??? I want to do something, but everything He gives me to do isn't at all exciting! It's mundane, insignificant, boring, and lonely. I don't like where He has me. I want to be where He's going to put me long-term, not this indecisive, trust-every-second-that-He-knows-what-He's-doing thing! And to make matters "worse", when I voice my complaints even a little, instead of sympathising, they point me to trusting God's sovereignty! I know that already! I don't want to have to trust Him, I just want Him to do what I want Him to do!"

That's been the condition of my heart of late. It's disgusting, isn't it? I step out of Easter, intoxicated with the joy and glory of Christ's sacrifice, only to jump into the mud and smear dung all over me. I was putting on such a good show of godliness, hiding my leprosy under priestly garments.  When God allowed me to see clearly what horrible attitudes I'd been gathering up, I was broken. I'm still so ashamed...

And then He led me to Hosea.
He's been doing that a lot lately, and wow, it's amazing! It's me! And it's Him!
It's us!

I've played the whore. I've run after my desires, and put my trust in the things that I wanted. I've told myself that I was in control. When I turned to God, it was oh, so briefly! And then I ran back to my gods.

AND YET!

HE IS FAITHFUL!
He loves me. With a love no human could manage!
Check it:

"I will not execute my burning anger;

I will not again destroy Ephraim;

for I am God and not a man,

the Holy One in your midst,

and I will not come in wrath."

Hosea 11:9 (emphasis added)

Practically the whole book of Hosea is about how completely unfaithful Israel has been to Him, and what horrible discipline they've earned; it's all about what a serious crime it is to cheat on Him. And then this!


Praise God, who has taken for himself a wretch like me to love unconditionally as His precious bride! Waiting is not at all hard if I'm resting in the embrace of my Beloved! Praise be to Him, for bringing me to this place of rest!

So there, you now have a clearer picture of the monster that is Sarah Weber apart from Christ. But, hopefully and more importantly, you have a clearer understanding of what a glorious God we serve!

So please pray for me.
Pray that I would grow to be more like Christ and less like Sarah.
And also, please pray that things would work out at work so that I'll be able to go back to Mission in May! God has brought me to a place where if I'm unable to go, that's fine. A bummer, but something to be rejoiced in because it is His work. But until I know for certain that the answer is no, I'm going to pray otherwise. :)

May the Love and Peace of Christ be with you always!
Sarah

"Say to your brothers, 'You are my people,' and to your sisters, 'You have received mercy.'[Ruhama]"
Hosea 2:1 (read it in the context of chapter 1 - it's glorious!)

Overdue Report on Monday-Wednesday, or Why Sarah Could Never Make it as a Journalist

I'm terribly sorry that I didn't get this posted yesterday! It was a weird day, and I couldn't get my thoughts gathered and stay focused long enough to get it written. Hopefully I can keep it from getting too long. Here we go!

First, let me tell you that Hermano Solis is doing a little better! When Billy talked to him yesterday, he said that the pain was much smaller. Praise God! And keep praying. :)

I suppose the best way to do this would be to go through day by day and tell you what I know.

Monday
Monday evening the team planned on having a family from the church over for dinner, then picking up some boys at 7 to finish soundboard training. They did have people over for dinner (where I hear there was tons of good food), but ended up being 45 minutes late to pick up the boys. Since it was too late for soundboard training, they were able to play soccer with a bunch of kids from the apartments near the church! Isn't it amazing how God works?

Photo courtesy of Billy Jackson

Tuesday
Yesterday they had a bigger day. They started by helping serve breakfast to disaster relief volunteers, and later took a shopping trip to Mexico (where vanilla beans are only 99¢ each!). Yesterday evening they spent some time with a few of the boys, and played a crazy game of kickball where they met new kids and were able to tell them about tonight - more on that later. After the kickball game, they played the "best basketball game in Texas," and then were able to have a Bible study with some of the young men. For more information on that, check out http://christpreeminent.blogspot.com/.

Wednesday
Today I haven't had much of an update on what they've done, except that they're taking care of some things like fixing up the bulletin boards at the church. I do know that there are quite a few prayer requests for tonight!

Photo courtesy of Billy Jackson

To begin with, Aaron is going to be meeting with the church members this evening, and could definitely use your prayers. I don't know what they're going to talk about, but it's a gathering of people, so there will most assuredly be need of grace!

Also please be praying for Billy. While Aaron is meeting with the adults, Billy will be leading a Bible Study with the young men. Please pray that all of his thoughts would come together, and he would be able to clearly present the truth of God's Word to them! Pray also that God would be preparing the hearts of these young men to hear His Truth, and that they would listen and discuss. More than anything, pray that God would use tonight and this trip to save them!

Thursday - Friday
I don't know what the plan is on these days. They want to go to one of the boys' soccer games, but at this time that's not set in stone.

During the rest of this trip, Aaron needs to visit many people. Like the meeting with the church members tonight, it will be people talking to each other, and thus much grace is needed! Pray that he would have the time to make them, and that all conversations would be God-glorifying and conducted in love.

Photo courtesy of Billy Jackson

Saturday
Saturday morning they plan to have a Men's Breakfast, so pray for them as they prepare for that.

Also, the team wants to have a day where they can invite all of the kids over to hang out. There is no VBS, but the little kids still want to come. It would be fantastic if they could invite them over to swim on Saturday! Please pray that they would be able to get permission to do so.


I think that's all of the information that I have right now. Again, I am so very, very sorry that it has taken me so long to update you all!

Until the next post,
Sarah

An Update and a Request.

Hello, everyone! It's time for another second-hand update (for a first-hand account, check out http://christpreeminent.blogspot.com/ )! I heard from a friend that things are going okay in Mission. The kids are in school, so not much has been happening. Tonight they hope to have some friends from the church over for dinner, and to finish training some of the boys to run the sound board.

I have three things for you to pray about today!

Photo courtesy of Billy Jackson

First, continue to pray for healing for Hermano Solis' arm. While you're doing that, consider whether or not you could contribute to this brother financially as well as in prayer. This large family's financial situation is not very stable at the best of times, and with no insurance, the price of the hospital stay, surgery, and his medicine, they will probably have it pretty hard for a while. Please pray that God will reveal to the team what the family's greatest needs are, so that the body of Christ can show love to them by meeting that need. And please consider being part of the body who extends love to them in that way. Pray about it.

If the Lord so leads you to help them financially, you can contact Debbie with Psalm 67 at: 

• artistdf@sbcglobal.net

The second prayer request was mentioned by Aaron in his blog post,  and that is that God would save the area from the influence of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Pray that God would pour out salvation on Mission, Texas, and that He would choose to save great numbers of Jehovah's Witnesses first! One of the young men that we've spent a lot of time with in the past has been going to a JW church, and they haven't been able to spend any time with him yet. Pray that they would be able to make contact with him, and that he would start coming back to Iglesia Bautista Cristo El Rey!

The third prayer request is not quite as major as these other two, but since I'm praying it, I thought you might like to, too. :)
In the words of Billy Jackson: "Pray that the Lord would send us some bikes, too. That would be awesome."

So there you have it! I'm sorry that my updates are usually just glorified lists of prayer requests, but why else would you want an update if not to know how better to pray and support the work God is doing in Mission?

Again, please prayerfully consider whether or not God could use you to support our brother and sister in Christ, Mr. and Mrs. Solis, as they go through this trial!

May the joy of the Lord be with you all!

Love and Peace,
Sarah

Aaron took a good nap, and other stories.

Picture courtesy of Billy Jackson

This has been a great day!

One of the greatest parts of it was getting to video chat with some of the kids in Mission. Seeing them and hearing their voices was so wonderful, almost like being there. I love those crazy kids.

I was also able to get some updates for you! Last I heard, Aaron was supposed to pick up Hermano Solis from the hospital at 7:30 tonight.
Please keep the Solis family in prayer. They have no insurance, and getting antibiotics and pain medicine is turning out to be difficult. Right now they're trying to get it from Mexico, because it's much less expensive over the border. Please pray that things would go smoothly, and that God would provide whatever funds they may need. I have no idea what their needs are in that area, just that they could use some prayer. [UPDATE! Hermano Solis is home, and has his medicine! Praise God!]

So far as what the team will be doing tonight, Aaron is picking up Hermano Solis, and Rick is teaching some of the boys to run the soundboard at the church. I don't know what the others are doing, but hopefully they're getting some rest. In the words of Aaron, "I took a good nap today... I think. I don't remember falling asleep." They haven't said much about how tired they are, but if nothing else, they look exhausted, and this is only their second day. Pray that they would be able to rest, so that they will have the strength to do the work that God gives them to do. It's hard to pour yourself out when you're tired.

Picture courtesy of Billy Jackson

One more thing, and then I'll leave ye alone. We, the girls left behind, would really like to have a video chat with the girls in Mission. We're not sure when that might happen, or how it's going to work with everyone's schedules, but we're hoping it all comes together. Pray with us that it will!

Thank you for your prayers, and for your patience as I try to keep us all up-to-date with what's happening in Mission! Hopefully I'm redeeming myself for not giving you any updates while I was down there last month. :)

Love and Peace to you!
Sarah

I am not in Mission, Texas. And that's okay.

[If you don't want to know about what's going on in my life, please scroll down to find out what's going on in Texas! It's important stuff.]

Do I wish I was in Mission with Aaron, Rachel, Rick, Billy, and Olivia? Yes!
And no.

I want to be there, because I miss everyone and I'm longing to go back! I don't want to be there, because I know that God wants me here at home, and that's just fine. More than fine, it's perfect. It's the best place I could possibly be at this moment, and slowly this head knowledge is becoming trusting, enjoyable heart knowledge.

One definite perk of being home is that I get to spend Easter with my family! I haven't gotten to spend much time with them lately, and I miss them. The past few days have been really nice, and full of special moments, like painting Easter eggs at 10:30pm, taking my sister to an interview for her first out-of-the-house job, and making Coconut Easter Bunny Cake Pops (my invention!) with her.

Every moment is precious, and some are even more precious than others. I don't know what my life is going to be like next Easter. For all I know, I'll be living my dream as a missionary's wife, and be living far, far away. Spending these days at home, and not in Texas, is a blessing.

That being said, I still really, really wish I was down there with them. I've gotten to do a lot of thinking about how amazing God's omnipresence is, but if I could collect those thoughts into something readable, they should definitely go in their own blog post!


But importantly: Texas!

As mentioned, the team is little this time: Aaron, Rachel, Olivia, Rick, and Billy (just like the first time only without me). They arrived in Mission yesterday evening, and I've been pestering them for updates ever since! From what I can gather, they've already been very busy, and they already have something for us back home to pray about.

Hermano Solis

Photo courtesy Billy Jackson

Lesley and Enrique are some of our best buddies in Mission. During our last trip, they helped us tremendously by translating for us when we handed out flyers. They have eight other brothers and sisters, and their parents are some of the few members of Iglesia Bautista Cristo El Rey.

Today their father, Mr. Solis, was trimming trees at a friend's house. He fell, and the chainsaw he was using fell with him, landing on his left arm, about four inches up from the wrist. It did what chainsaws do, and cut down to the bone. Last I heard, he was unable to feel or move two of his fingers. He's in surgery now (Saturday night) until 11:00pm. I'll give you an update as soon as I can tomorrow!

Photo courtesy of Billy Jackson

Please pray! Pray that the doctors would be able to reconnect all nerves and tendons easily. Pray for quick and relatively pain-free healing. Even more than these things, pray that God would use this situation to show His love to this family. Pray for Aaron, Rachel, Rick, and Billy, that they would know exactly what to say and do to help.
Pray that God would use this situation to make His Name known to the Solis' neighbors and friends!

Photo courtesy of Billy Jackson

And pray for the team while they're down there. Pray that their days would be full of good work and their nights full of good rest. Pray that God would open doors like never before, and that they would be able to live the Gospel. Pray that many come and hear the Good News tomorrow, and be saved!

IT IS FINISHED! Christ has taken the full punishment of our sins on Himself! The curtain has been torn, and God is our Father! Pray confidently, and gratefully! He is worthy of all praise, and He will save His people from their sins, so pray that He would save for Himself more worshippers tomorrow!

He is risen!


Like I said, I'll give you an update on Hermano Solis and the rest of the goings on in Mission as soon as I can. Until then, rejoice in Christ's victory and pray!

Love and Peace,
Sarita

P.S. I just realised that this is the 200th post! Woo-hoo!

Floored by Grace

How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my burning anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not a man,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.
Hosea 11:8,9

What wondrous Love is this, O my soul?!
In context, it brings me to tears! Read Hosea if you get a chance. Meditate on that mercy today. And don't you dare refuse such mercy to a fellow sinner.


Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting!