Warrior of the Mighty King

Hey friends, This summer in NYC has been so amazing and so busy. We have had many mission teams and we have had the help of our summer interns. Right now, during this time of Ramadan when Muslims are seeking the truth, I ask that you pray that they would find and know Christ who is the way, the truth and the life and that they would know that no one can come to the Father except through Christ. I also ask that you pray for our students who are from other religious backgrounds too. Pray that they would know Christ and that we can disciple them.  Our summer VBS program in the parks and in our center has been extremely successful! So many children have come and are learning stories about Christ everyday! Please pray that they would continue to come to our program that we have during the summer as well! We are now starting an ESL classes that are only for Spanish speakers which will help us launch a small group Bible study for this group which will also help us to launch ou...

The Soundtrack to my Soul currently: "You Won't Relent" by Misty Edwards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmViJnAHKQk "Blessings" by Laura Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQan9L3yXjc "Beautiful Things" By Gungor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1spkhp41ig4 "Build Your Kingdom Here" By Rend Collective Experiment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbdJXKqVgtg "Oceans" By Hillsong United https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy9nwe9_xzw June has brought a lot of good things, a lot of life lessons, and a lot more to learn about waiting on the Lord. Since I've been back to NYC, my allergies have been better. Although, I cannot stomach peanut butter anymore. But that's okay, fresh vegetables are always better. I can still drink hot tea and cherish its calming effect. My asthma has barely flared. Apparently, all of your body is connected. When you eat something you cannot stomach or tolerate, the acid buildup can affec...

Okay so lots of people (especially the ones that grew up in the 90s) are a little disappointed about Girl Meets World, the "sequel" series to Boy Meets World. I think the pilot was alright. It also looks just like the other shows they play on Disney Channel. I just do not know why people are surprised. And these are the reasons why: Girl Meets World is reaching an entirely different audience than Boy Meets World. While kids usually act the same and enjoy some of the same things, this generation of kids would not watch the show if it was the exact replica of Boy Meets World. Disney would lose lots of money. These kids are 2010 kids, not 1990 kids. They like shows such as Austin and Ally, Dog with a Blog, and Jessie. Shows that started in the 90s were completely different than shows these days. Honestly, the Nickelodeon shows were better than the Disney ones. I mean Salute Your Shorts, Are You Afraid of the Dark, Clarissa Explains it All, All That, and Boy Meets World were...

" Make me to know your ways, O   Lord ;      teach me your paths. 5  Lead me in your  truth and teach me,      for you are the God of my salvation;      for you I wait all the day long." Psalm 27:4-5 INFP. Four letters that make up my personality. The tricky thing with INFP's is that we love to help people but we just don't know exactly what that entails. We change our mind a lot if we don't know where we are going in life. I've changed my mind so many times. From Pharmacy to teaching to ministry to counseling to everything else that involves helping people. Why am I 24 and still trying to figure out life? Because that's how INFP's work. To a person with a more logical personality, this may seem crazy or irrational. But this is how God made me. I'm a people person. I don't have my life planned out. I'm not the kind of person that knows what I want to do when I'm ten years old and sticks to that plan...

Monday, one of my ESL students took me aside after class and poured out her heart to me about her first husband. She's my age. 24. She was married at a very early age. Her first husband would wake her up in the middle of the night just to beat her. She warned me that this is how men treat women in her country. This is the first time I've heard a muslim woman admit this out loud. She did find a way out of that marriage and married another muslim man but he is kind to her. As s he was telling me this story, the tears were rolling down her face. She was still in so much pain. She told me this story after I shared in class the verse in John 14 when Jesus says He is the only way to heaven. She is searching so hard for the truth. Pray for this student. Pray for her to receive dreams and visions of Jesus and that she and her husband would accept Him as Lord and Savior of their lives. Pray that they would share Christ with others and that they would take the gospel to their ...

1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. -Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 April in New York City is still so chilly and windy and rainy. But, it's beautiful in it's own way. How could one enjoy the beauty of the spring or the warmth of the summer if one never had to endure the harsh winter conditions? How could one ...

"But you will receive  power  when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and  you will be  my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and  Samaria, and  to the end of the earth." Acts 1:8 "14  And  the Word  became flesh and  dwelt among us,  and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of  grace and  truth.   15  ( John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said,  ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)   16  For from  his fullness we have all received,  grace upon grace. [ d ]   17  For  the law was given through Moses;  grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.   18  No one has ever seen God;  the only God, [ e ]  who is at the Father's side, [ f ]   he has made him known." John 1:14-18 "The steadfast love of the  Lord  never ceases; [ b ]  ...

Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,  we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.   Through him we have also  obtained access by faith into this grace  in which we stand, and  we rejoice   in hope of the glory of God.   Not only that, but we  rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering  produces endurance,   and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,   and  hope does not put us to shame, because God's love  has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. This summer when I was in New York and talking to people about coming back for a year, a guy told me that the first few months would be like the "honeymoon phase" where I would love New York and then later it would fade away. Well these first couple of months have been no honeymoon! It has not been terrible either though. When I'm teaching English to our studen...

So this blog is going to look a little different style-wise, because I have not been journaling every day but because I take pictures I can remember what happened throughout the week. Lately, my schedule has been crammed full of reading for seminary and watching lectures for seminary and teaching ESL classes and helping assist with ESL classes and helping kids with their homework and sharing the gospel with everyone and helping with children at church. Thankfully, God's timing is perfect and at one of our churches we are studying about the things that God has given us to be stewards of such as money, time, body, health, and our minds. I have also been learning to trust God completely and the small group I have joined is going through a book called Trusting God. It's awesome to see how God orchestrates this life and how our lives are just a small chunk of time in His huge plan. Our South Asian Center has been under some spiritual warfare lately. There is a lady who lives in th...

Right now, I am craving deep Christian friendship. I have many friends here but I just feel like all of our conversations are just surface level. I think that the reason  professional counselors exist is because we are too afraid to have deep friendships where we listen to each other, and understand each other so that we don't give half-baked advice because we weren't really understanding the full situation. I am thankful for those friendships that I do have all over the states though. During this time I have been so close to the Lord which is beautiful. 1/27/14 Monday Week 5 Day 3 This morning I taught ESL at the SA with a bengali lady who is just starting to learn English. She is struggling. Pray that she will be eager to learn English and that I will boldly share the gospel with her. Grace's friends Anna and Hank need prayer for transparency in their relationship. I studied this afternoon and met a former student and gave her a New Testament. Pray for her that she rea...

These past two weeks have been busy and I hope to post weekly from now on. Also, if I have not written or called you back; I will as soon as I can. These are just snip its from my journal: Week 3 Day 3 January 13, 2014 Today was great! Rebekah came back earlier than I thought so I will not be alone at the beach house. I taught ESL this morning with Yeshi. Pray that she comes to know Jesus as her Savior. I was able to spend time with some SAC volunteers and we shared prayer requests with one another. One bought me lunch! Thank God for provision. Then I read Acts and Romans and love how radical the apostles were. That's how we should be now too. Then I taught ESL at night. Pray that they would see Christ in me and that they would accept Him. Week 3 Day 4 January 14, 2014 Today I helped tutor children afterschool. Pray that them and their families would accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that the children would learn the importance of obedience. Later, I went to Brooklyn ...

The restoration theme has still been very evident in these weeks that I have been here. God has removed a lot and also taught me a lot during this time. I have been blown away by God's unconditional, everlasting love. He has opened so many doors and opportunities for me to serve Him that I would need to be 17 people in order to do every thing that is available for me to do here. So I need you guys to pray for wisdom, that He would guide me to do exactly what He wills. I'm tired of making my own plans. I just want to follow His plan. This week has been a blast. Here are excerpts from my journal: Week 2 Day 3 January 6, 2014 Today we headed to the South Asian Center for the first day of English class for the new semester. Only a few students showed up so we were able to teach one on one. I taught a lady from Peru and she was very sweet. When she did not understand a word, God provided me a way to use my Spanish minor to explain the word. After class we had a staff meeting a...

Week 1 Day 1 December 28, 2013 I woke up this morning and finished some last minute packing and spent time with God. Then I had coffee and biscuits for breakfast with Granny. I got a little teary eyed at the thought of leaving her alone again. Then my older sister Jessica came in the kitchen and hugged me and the tears really fell then. Then my brother-in-law Tyler packed my stuff in Granny's car and they took me to the airport. Granny dropped Jess and I off so I could check-in and Granny could park. One of my bags was too heavy so I had to take a lot of stuff out. Ronnie said he would mail it to me! So I hugged Granny, Jessica, Mackenzie, Stephanie, Blake, Ronnie, and mom goodbye and got on the plane. My first flight was good. I read most of the time and tried to sleep but couldn't. Then I made it to Charlotte, NC to catch my next flight which was on the other side of the airport. The medicine and sinus infection that I was diagnosed with on Friday was making me very weak b...