From Oaxaca, MX to Wenatchee, WA
Forgive me, dear friends, for being so distant this last month. Most of it was spent living out of suitcase as I traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico, and then to Wenatchee, Washington. It ended up becoming a much-needed break from raising support for Japan and constantly telling people about my ministry vision. But now I can tell you all about my recent adventures.
A brief update on Japan:
All of my paperwork for my Certificate Of Eligibility has been received at the Tokyo base and has been submitted to immigration for processing! The Visa Processing Team estimates that my certificate will be issued between late December and early January. Once I have it I can finally purchase a plane ticket!
For now, I will be making more logistical preparations and will continue raising support. I am over 95% financially supported now! Almost there! Praise the Lord!
Outreach in Oaxaca, Mexico
I had the unbelievable joy of embarking on a mission trip to Oaxaca, Mexico from October 28-November 7, 2016. I had never thought much about the church in Mexico before this trip. When I decided to go, I was curious about what the Lord was up to in Mexico and wanted to find out what our family there brings to God's kingdom. I was blown away by what I saw.
This was also the first trip that I have taken with my family from Kingsfield Church. I loved getting to know all of them a little bit deeper and seeing their strengths while serving with them.
But it is much easier to be unified and to work with when circumstances are going as planned than it is when everything goes wrong. I am pretty sure I spent more time in an airport during that week than during all of my other trips combined.
We missed our first two flights, were delayed on the connecting flight, and then had our returning flight canceled before we could come home. We spent more than two extra days in the airport. Everything in me wanted to be negative and frustrated, but I was with a whole bunch of people who would have rebuked my bad attitude. We all got to do that for each other. Love, encouragement, and rebukes grow relationships quickly, and we were all able to grow with each other and lift each other up. I am so thankful for the team we had, and that I got to be a part of it.
Our team of about twenty people got to serve in La Gran Fiesta, a large event where the pastors of Oaxaca and their families come for worship, Bible teaching, prayer, and various clinics. We set up for a prayer room, the eyeglass clinic, and the chiropractor clinic. Hundreds of people lined up to receive. They waited all day for their pair of eyeglasses, to have muscles worked on, and to have evil curses broken off of their ministries.
There was so much healing anointing over that time. Everyone worked tirelessly to serve the people who came. Most of my time was spent in the prayer room, where we got to see dozens healed by the power and grace of God. For me, this was a time that the Lord used to renew my faith for physical healing.
The thing that stood out to me the most after meeting so many of God's people was their desire for unity in the body of Christ. The value they placed on unity was so high that it went far beyond who was from which country. It was the kind of unity that puts the cross before the flag, no matter what. And I saw that the church in Mexico is praying for unity in the Church of the United States, which blessed me beyond words.
Vacation Road Trip to Wenatchee, WA
Shortly after returning from Mexico, I departed on my road trip up to Wenatchee. That was where Daniel and Rachel Lily were to be married. Daniel Lily was a fellow classmate with me during my Discipleship Training School (DTS) in 2012. I was not going to miss the opportunity to see them and many others along the way. I stopped in Los Angeles; Exeter; Santa Cruz; Dallas, Oregon; and Monterey. I got to see many friends and family members, some of whom I had not seen in over four years.
One of the things I to which I most looked forward was seeing some of the people from the Tokyo base at the wedding. Seeing them was a great encouragement to me. They reminded me that they look forward to having me with them and that I am finally almost there. All I could think when I was with them was that I could not wait to tell them everything that has happened. I hope to encourage them with what God has done in my life and in this journey to Japan.
I spent most of the trip with Chris and Rebecca, two former classmates from my DTS. The Lord planned this perfectly. We laughed and cried for the crazy long drive, and they reminded me love people more openly. They challenged me to seek even deeper relationships with the ones I love and with the people around me. Saying goodbye was hard, but I was thankful to have spent as much time with them as I did.
For my last day of travels I visited my little brother and his girlfriend in Monterey. It was the perfect end to a wonderful vacation. They blessed me with beautiful gifts, the most delicious breakfast I have had in a long time, a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a tour of the coast, fresh coffee, a delicious dinner, and a couple hours of talking about funny T.V. shows together. Oh--and apple pie! I had missed them so much, and it was phenomenal just to hang out with them again.
Thank you everyone for your support!
So this is what I have been up to this last month. It was wild and adventurous. I feel refreshed and ready to make preparations for moving to Japan. My heart has been so overwhelmed with love that it is difficult to describe in a short post how I am feeling or even all the details of what happened, but please know I love all of you very much.
