Ashleigh Stearns
Okay, so today beat every other day we have been here by a lot! It's really like everyday gets better and better. Today after breakfast, we went to the radio and Kinsey sang a beautiful song. Then Tim, Robyn, Angela, Will, and I gave our testimonies, and sharing my testimony to 4 countries just made me so happy and took weight off my shoulders; and after we left the radio, we all went to a village called Jiñocuao. We met the pastor that almost died and got to hear from his family, and we sang in front of their village; and then Pastor Bryan spoke, and a huge number of them accepted Christ! It was awesome!
After we left, we had lunch, then left for Las Torres village, where I got to name 2 twins that were 2 months old. I named them Ashleigh Melissa and Alfredo Allan. My friend Allan helped me with the middle names, considering he was interpreting for me! Then I helped out with the medicine. Then we came back to the casa and had dinner.
Also, earlier today, I wrote Henry a letter, and Angela rewrote it in Spanish, and I gave them to him; and later after dinner, me, Kyle, Angela, and Henry sat there, and it was SO GOD SPEAKING through us! It was crazy - when one of us didn't know what to say, the other did, and Angela was such a blessing being able to interpret for us. Henry finally accepted Christ and is hopefully getting baptized real soon. And he cried, I cried, and God just works in awesome ways.
Other missionaries planted seeds in him - I just got to watch the harvest grow, and I can honestly say I've never helped someone come to Christ, but after that, I will be seriously all about Jesus... I'm not going to heaven alone. We were put on this earth to do one thing, and that's bring others to him, and that's exactly what I'm going to do!
Todo es acerca de Jesus! (It's all about Jesus!)
Hunter Hoyt
Today was convicting. I went through most of the day tired, sore, and with an all around bad attitude. That was most of the day. Tonight during God Moment time, Don said a few things that convicted me as well as gave me a way to relate to him. He said that there will be times when evil will try to prevail over our time here and will give us the "I just want to get back to the house" mindset. That mentality almost conquered my day.
But when Don said that, it made me realize that during the village visits today, I was thinking that, and at that moment, God spoke to me through Don and told me that, He, not evil, will triumph. I related to Don through his description of his childhood - in his absence of a mother figure and his father's extreme doubt in his ability. My biological father left when I was one, and I lived with a single mom until I was five. My now stepfather, who adopted me as his son, has blessed me in ways beyond explanation. I needed the presence of a father and God granted me one who is loving and wills me to do well.
Though I was presented with this gift, at times I couldn't help but ponder on my biological father. Why did he leave? Why doesn't he call? Why don't I care whether he loves me or not? Well, all that's settled now. I had carried this burden - that I didn't bring on myself - for way too long, and enough was enough. I laid it down on the altar before God, and He delivered me from it. I have a father that loves me at home, and even more importantly, a father that is with me 24/7, and is supplying me with infinite and immeasurable love and compassion, no matter the circumstances. Finally finding peace in something that has caused me anguish for so long, creates only a feeling God could describe.
And God did it. How appropriate. God works in amazing ways and most definitely my bad attitude for the day was relinquished. I had the opportunity to play my new ukulele to one person, council another, and talk to still one more that I didn't even hardly know, because I love every single person here and am supplied with a confidence only God can provide.
Tiffany Ford
Today, we went to the radio and sang 'The Pretty Song.' Kinsey sang "Amazing Grace." Ashleigh, Robin, Will, Tim, and Angela shared their testimonies. It was awesome to listen to my best friend, Ashleigh, share her testimony on the radio, because I was there for it.
Down here, if you stop and listen, you see how God is working and how He has worked. Today, I read the thing on the wall about Shelly. It touched my heart and showed me how God had a plan from the beginning. He knew that He wanted to build a mission house down here, and He did it. Although we were oblivious to it, He knew. This just shows how big God is and how great His love for us is.
In the village of Jiñocuao, we saw Pastor Saturnino. He was the pastor who had gotten electrocuted while building his church. This week, I've got the change to hear witness of his wife's faith in the Lord. She believed that her husband would live, and God saved him. This encouraged my faith just by witnessing his much better health. He was using a walker now, but all his wounds were healed.
I also helped the doctor handout medicine in Las Torres. I got to see twin 14-day olds. Ashleigh actually ended up getting to name them! This village had many babies.
Kyle touched my heart today when he told all the girls that, "The man we married would be lucky." Kyle and Ashleigh, with the help of Angela's translation were able to bring Henry to Christ.
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