Missions is More

“Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asked this question of his followers, and He asks this same question to each of us. By deciding who Jesus is to us, we each, very literally, define who we are as well. Long before this trip I had personally decided that Jesus was and is the Lord and Savior of my life. I would no longer be in control, but I would follow after the things of Christ. So what exactly was I committing to when I made this declaration? A life of happiness, serving, and loving; or maybe even a life of hypocrisy, sinning, and condemnation?   Matthew 28:19 tells me that...

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Puerto Rico Week 2

Day 7 Church day!! Team worship on the roof. Beautiful view -and hot! Went with Abuelos and Tia to church. Watched a kids play, baby dedication, worshipped and listened to the singing speaker. We introduced ourselves at the front of the church-in Spanish too!! The few youth were really encouraged to see American youth in their church. Ate empanadas and acapulias for lunch on the back deck. Spontaneously drove to the caves-we’re closed, rain. Drove to a zoo/lighthouse/pool/beach – with Noe’s cousins. Jumped off the pier. Got Frappes on the way back-prayed for and blessed a...

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Joy vs Happiness

One of the first lessons we were taught during training camp was joy vs. happiness. I always thought the two words were synonymous, but I learned that they are actually two separate things. We were told that happiness is a feeling and so is joy, but the difference is that joy is choosing to be happy even if you don’t have an obvious reason to be happy. It was intriguing to me, but I still didn’t understand what that looked like, much less how to do it, but over the course of ten days, God taught me through the people of Puerto Rico.   Our fourth day here, we visited the San...

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Wholehearted Worship

For most of my life, I was that person that looked at you like you were crazy if you raised your hands during worship, but I changed my mind when I found myself subconsciously lifting my hands. It isn’t crazy at all, it’s just a symbol of wholehearted surrender, or what I thought was wholehearted surrender. I was still self conscious of what I looked like and if everyone else had their hands raised, I did too, even if I didn’t feel it and I definitely wasn’t going to be the only one raising my hands. It wasn’t until a few days ago that what I thought was whole...

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Puerto Rico Week 1

Leaving the aim base after training…excited, here we go        Day 2 Devo-insecurities. How to overcome them! The god within us is greater than the giants outside of us. Unknowns-trusting god-he’ll provide our ministry and days:) Beach-met Carlos Kayla Karla. Water football/rugby Pool time-invited to church. Sang worship in the pool. Pollo fights and watched as karla kicked all our butts in sharks and minnows Pasta dinner and team time @ moonlight bay hostel Day 3 Helped the area around us: Picked up the beach trash. Several local people said thank you-they...

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Came to Serve, Came Back Changed

  Sarahgrace is a high school student who went to Puerto Rico this summer to serve with the Adventures Ambassador program.  This is her personal story on finding more than she ever expected. Puerto Rico. What can I say? Going into this, all I wanted was to serve, and if I got something out of it, great.  But you see, God had greater plans; He always does.  The whole time I was trying really hard to make it not about me and so on and so forth.  I unfocused it so much from myself that I lost the point of it all somewhere along the way.  While I went on this trip...

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