What in the world...?

Look at my future home! Remember the picture from the support letter? Look how far they've come in the building process! It's coming along very well (it's the block building in the background.) In the picture below, you can see even more progress has been made on the second story, with all the work teams who've been going down to Casa to serve.

So, the last 2 months have been full! Between working full-time, giving a couple of presentations on Guatemala and Casa, and then enjoying life with my friends and family, there hasn't been a whole lot of down time.

In the beginning of April, our family lost my cousin Ken in a car accident. He was someone very dear to more hearts than we know, I think,
and someone who never did anything half-way, a truly kind and loving person, taken from us quite unexpectedly--he was 54 years old--and he will be missed dearly.

I have been showered with even more material blessings, as one of my supporters recently bought me a Mac Book Pro--something I had actually asked God for a couple of months ago! On top of this, this supporter also bought from me my new HP, which I bought in impatience and self-reliance, right after I asked the Lord for a Mac. The HP will now go on to bless someone else, who doesn't have a computer, as a gift--God amazes me--He covers over our sin. Another blessing of provision has been that my contract was extended at Google, whereas my last day would've been May 11th, it is now on a month-to-month basis--and boy do we need our whole team to stick around! We've definitely got our hands full, but that's a blessing, because if we didn't, some of us might be unemployed :P

Support made a sweet jump in the month of May from 30% at the end of April to about 65% at the end of May! That's over double--you guys are awesome! (Yes of course God is awesome, and He has provided amazingly, but I praise Him for your faithfulness to give! Thank you so much!)

Another answer to prayer: we will also be taking a small team down June 26th-July 3rd to serve for the week at Casa. This will be a great opportunity for the other team members to get to see the work and the field in person, having their our personal experience, which they will hopefully be able to share with others when they get back. It will be a great opportunity for me to see, what often feels like 2 separate worlds, connect and sort of join my different realities; it will also be a great chance to have people who know me outside Guatemala there for accountability to check me for integrity of personality (not that I'd go off the deep end or anything, but just that I am consistent,) as well as to have their very present support as I hopefully have the chance to sit down with some of the staff members to talk through a couple of pressing questions I have before getting down there for the long-haul. Praise God for these opportunities and provision, and also for how He has already worked out travel plans. Please pray for a possible 5th member to our team, as he waits for some determining details to fall into place before deciding on going or not. Please also keep the other 4 of us in prayer as we prepare and go to serve--our heart is to just be available servants wherever they need us the most and to bless them and encourage the kids and staff. The other team members are Scott, Bry, and Tiffany.

And there's more...

The Lord has been blessing me with a wealth of opportunities to share the gospel lately and to reach out into this community that is right here, to share Him. My roommate Jess, who I've lived with since January, and I got a 3rd roommate (3 bdrms) named Sahar, who is Iranian, but has been living in Austin :) the past 2 years with her husband (also from Iran,) and is out here doing a summer internship. Her husband wasn't able to come with her, so he comes to visit every couple of weeks. They are very sweet and really lovely people to be around and get to know. They're Muslim, but not very strictly practicing...Sahar and I have gotten to have a few good conversations about it, and Jess has also talked a lot with her. Please continue to pray for these relationships and opportunities to share through the summer. Please also praise God with me and pray for Tara and Nay, co-workers I've been getting to know and with whom I've recently had the chance to share the gospel. Pray for Tara as she considers the truth at all and Nay, as he is very curious and asking a lot of questions. Praise God for these and other opportunities, as they are answers to my prayers that my contract would be extended, in part, so that I could have more time to build these relationships.

Also, I was blessed with the opportunity to meet with the Missions Council at PBCC, my home church now out here in CA (www.pbcc.org,) and shared with them briefly about my background and how Guatemala and mission work came to be a part of my life, what I did in my previous visits, especially this last fall, Casa Aleluya's background and purpose, and what I'll be doing down there. I also got to share with them a video presentation I put together from this last visit, which gives a lot of good visuals of the work down there. The idea in this presentation was to explain to the Missions Council about the work in Guatemala and what my purpose is in going, so that they could then discuss whether or not to take my case before the church elders to see if they would consider endorsing me as an official PBCC missionary--not an easy feat. So it was a prayer of mine that the Lord would give me this sponsorship before I go down to Guat, as I desire to have my church, which has become my heart community and home, standing behind me in an official way--this is something I truly long for, although I know I already have much support from our 20s Fellowship within the church, which has become my even more intimate community :) It truly has been a home and a blessing to me--certainly a way the Lord has ministered to and provided for me in many ways! So please pray for the next Missions Council meeting at the end of this month, as they hopefully pray and discuss whether or not to even take my case before the elders of the church, and for wisdom for the elders, that they would truly seek what the Lord has and be determined to follow Him, especially as they must vote unanimously, if anything is to be a "go." This is in the Lord's hands.

Please also pray for me as I discern and discover some different passions, desires, and gifts God has given me, and the way He has wired me to serve and follow after Him...living, learning this and praying through it, TRUSTING HIM, and RESTING in His love, grace, and being. I love Him, and He has been blessedly revealing Himself lately as my Father, Husband, Friend, and Lover. Praise Him.

Well, I didn't really mean to write a whole chapter in this book, but I guess that's what happens when you don't update for 2 months. To those of you still reading at this point, cheers and blessings, and may you see the Lord work in your lives and the lives of those around you. To the rest who read any of this, cheers and blessings to you as well, and may you see and enjoy the Lord and have abundant time and rest in Him. Amen.

Thank you all for your continued prayer and love and support--what a blessed team.