On my way back to Thailand for Manistry and the last leg of my race ending in Cambodia, I asked God what is it that you want to teach me before completing this journey? He spoke clearly, "There's something I've been trying to teach you all along my son and you haven't completely tapped into it." Rest in me, be with me, Worship with me, talk to me, just give up yourself and follow me. INTIMACY.. I remember in Manistry when all the men of our squad gathered in a circle and began speaking out all the things they wanted God to deliver them from and asking every brother around them for help and direction to the Lord. INTIMACY.. I remember in Manistry when we went to Church one Sunday Worshiping and praying over members of the Church who desired to be healed by the Lord; God began healing individuals time, after time, after time and even the Worship continued for a long period of time. INTIMACY.. In Cambodia, I witnessed teenagers going to school from Monday to Saturday and rushing on Wednesday evenings to Worship God at their Church despite the significant amount of homework they might of had. INTIMACY.. I remember one of the girls writing a note on the back of a photo that was given to me, expressing her thoughts, "Brother, don't cry when you miss us; remember you always have God. INTIMACY.. Words can't explain what I've learned from those who served alongside of me, those we've served in the world, but one thing I can say is that everything that happened this year was all directed back to our Father in Heaven. Everything was made complete in him because we chose to be Intimate with our Father. Before the World Race, I questioned my Identity in Christ and I never knew how to receive the love God has for us. Once I began to rest in the Lord and truly accept where I was in my walk with him, I began experiencing the power of God in a totally different way. The best word to describe my experiences on this Race, but ultimately my experience with the Father would be INTIMACY. We were all created for INTIMACY and INTIMACY is the beginning of truly discovering what it means to have a relationship with God. Lord, thank you for this journey, thank you for those we served, those who served us and everyone we served alongside with. Most of all, thank you for accepting us everyday for who we are regardless of the things we do to you and for choosing to pursue us eternally. To all my friends, family and supporters. Thank you; I cannot thank you enough. You were all made for INTIMACY!!!
Hello Everyone!! It's been awhile since I've given you an update on my status on the race and now God is saying it's never too late!! First, I just want to Thank everyone who supported me in being able to reach God's lost in the world. Because of your support God has used myself and members on my squad to steward his holy spirit through spiritual healings, evangelizing, spreading his love on people, fellowshipping with numerous churches, teaching children bible studies and worship music in schools, praying healing over many individuals who have received physical healings from God and just being able to be living sacrifices as God has called all his sons and daughters to be. I just want you all to know, even those who prayed for myself and others on this trip, you are appreciated greatly!! I pray to reach many of you via letter or phone when I return from my tour on the World Race. I'm currently in Thailand again, conducting Manistry with all the men of my squad. It's incredible to see all the things God has been teaching all of us men and being able to bring that together for this month of ministry.
Africa, some call it the motherland and others describe it as being one of the hardest places spiritually to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was definitely some of my hardest three months on the race, but because we serve an awesome God and because we were willing to be used for his glory, God showed up time, after time, after time. My first month was in Kenya and one of the things God was speaking to me most about was are your ready to receive your identity in me and are you prepared to encounter some of the deepest darkness here on this earth. Our ministry that month was to conduct door to door evangelizing, speak to students at schools about abstinence and why God desires that for their lives and to organize meetings in church from (children's church on weekends to weekly bible study meetings to meetings concerning individuals struggling with substance abuse). God was able to use us all in a mighty way. We were blessed to be amongst kids everyday by our home and able to show God's love whereever we touched ground throughout the community. God taught me that month that we must be totally prepared to serve him at moments notice and willing to build relationships with his children no matter where they were in their walk with the Lord. Uganda, was our second month in Africa!! This month we got to continue going to schools interacting with the children, but we also got to preach at seminars (revivals what we call in the U.S.) and it was incredible to see God move in those churches. Many people on my team have not preached much, but because we were obedient to the holy spirit you could feel the spirit tumbling down on the church building every single time and many people were beginning to understand more of their identity and purpose in the Lord. I believe my team was also being used to minister to our contact that month. God used my team members and myself to alleviate many family problems that were occuring during our stay that month!! It's interesting how go to a contact having a focus of serving for the community or serving alongside of them, but not knowing God is using them to teach us something or even using us to teach them something. It's all God's love and that's what he's been showing us everytime. My last month was in Tanzania; by far the month where we encountered more spritual attacks than ever before. We would preach at churches throughout the week, on Sundays and during Crusades. That month, my team and another team witnessed many demon possessed individuals and instead of reading in the word, God was waiting to see how we would react to these encounters. What's amazing is that, like the bible says, love casts out all fear. Many things we witnessed this month we're broken and renewed because of God's love. We didn't do anything special; God just wanted us to be present and obedient to whatever he called us to operate in at any moment. This is the month where I begin going through a season of brokenness and truly begin learning my identity in Christ. My team and others started understanding that God does bring healings and yes God does love his children enough to relive them of demonic forces, but what's more important to him than ever is to have a relationship with him and to show the world his love. We can only be a light for Christ in this world until we truly learn what it means to have intimacy with the Lord and love ourselves as he loves us. If I was to sum up Africa in one word, it would be Foundation. I learn these three months that if you don't have a foundation in Chirst, meaning truly knowing your identify and what it means to have a relationship with the father, you would be ineffective in his Kingdom. The foundation that was laid for me and even up to now while I'm in Thailand, is learning to truly recognize your identity in him. It's for all of those who've been saved and received Christ in their lives, but do they all know who they are in Christ and what it means to receive Christ's love for their life? Africa, for me was a rebirth of my walk with the Lord and God bless you all!!
All I can say right now is that "We serve an Awesome God." Two months ago, myself and another teammate were behind in funding and God was able to supply $10,000 in a matter of three weeks. I use to think I wasn't qualified or competent to serve the Lord before this Race at times; the difference now is that I accept who I am in Christ currently and I go wherever he says go. I follow him wherever he desires to take me for the rest of my days here on earth. I'm currently in need of $2,720 to complete this race. I'm thankful for the prayers from everyone and I'm thankful for everyone who has supported God's Kingdom!! If God puts in your heart to continue furnishing my stay on the Race, I know without a doubt this vessel will always continue praising God to the ends of this earth and giving glory to God daily. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! I can't say it enough and I feel blessed to be called for the service of all mankind in this world, but most importantly for our Heavenly Father forever. You all have been a blessing to many people throughout this world and it's awesome witnessing the love/joy God is giving them all!! God bless you all!!
I'm currently in Chiang Mai, Thailand this month working with the ministry Remember Nhu. I don't know if many of you have heard of this ministry before, but it's definitely one of the most heart felt ministries I've worked with since being on this Race. Please, check out the website http://www.remembernhu.org. Who knew that there were millions of young girls sold into human trafficking across the world year, after year, after year? Who knew that many families over here are so financially unstable that when their children become of age, their only hope is to sell their child for financial gain? Can you imagine being five years old moving into a home of strangers after begin abandoned by your family? Can you imagine being 12 yrs old and instead of finishing the 6th grade like the average American kid, your forced into human trafficking for the welfare of your family? Words cannot explain how I've began to process some of the things I've mentioned in this blog. The first day arriving at this ministry, I was able to hear Nhu's testimony on video. Nhu is a Cambodian woman who exemplifies what it means to be a servant of God. Nhu received Christ at the tender age of 7 in a country which is predominantly 98% Buddhist. Nhu encountered many struggles throughout her life because of her love for the Lord. At the age of 12, she was sold into the human trafficking industry not by choice. Nhu prayed to God that the things which were done to her, wouldn't be done to any other girl in this world . God sent someone all away from America within a week of that prayer to look for Nhu and began the creation of Remember Nhu. It wasn't easy finding Nhu, but because of God's grace, she was found out of millions of people in her country. I will continue more with this blog, but I just ask everyone to pause for a moment and send a prayer to all the kids who are being sold into Human Trafficking and those who are currently in Human Trafficking. Please send your prayers to the ministry Remember Nhu; they're currently fundraising for new property to build more houses for the girls God has called to be in his hands. I ask everyone to reflect and be thankful for the goodness God has brought into this world regardless of the struggles faced in society from a day to day basis. God bless you all!!
Pan y Chocolate (meaning Bread and Chocolate), is the name of one of the ministries started by the Tabernacle Baptist Church in San Salvador, El Salvador. The main objective of the ministry is to reach the impoverished Children and Adults who are living in the streets of San Salvador. Our World Race group had the opportunity to work alongside with our contact and the Tabernacle Church family twice a week at night for this ministry. What impacted me the most about this ministry is the story of how it all begin. The Church members stated one of the brother's from the Church happened to be Downtown and was asked by someone living on the streets if they had any food. The brother proceeded in giving food to this individual and saw that there was a huge need for food late at night for many of the homeless living Downtown. This is when the idea started to pass out bread and hot chocolate to those less fortunate. This is a huge ministering tool because when the Church passes out the bread and chocolate, the Church members have an opportunity to preach the gospel and pray over these individuals lives. I remember meeting an older man name Jose. He told me his story of how he lost his job and because of his job loss, his marriage began raging in turmoil. He soon lost his house and he was separated from his spouse; she eventually moved in with other family members. Jose told me he was on the streets for three months and he was asking God to furnish him employment, plus a place to stay. I admire Jose's patience and faith in the Lord. I could tell from being on the streets for some time that he became weary and was wondering when things would turn around for his life. I prayed with Jose for nearly 20 minutes and he reacted with joy of how much that Lord has contributed to his life. He told me to continue praying for him thereafter, but because God solidified peace within his heart, He spoke of faith leaving the streets in a matter of weeks. My group and I enjoyed spending many nights on those streets praying for God to transform the minds, hearts and giving them all peace which can only come from the Lord. God is so good and I know without a doubt Jose is taken care of forever. God bless you all!!
After leaving Nicaragua, I was in deep thought one day about the community of Bethel. I was amazed how after a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, God was able to bring a group of missionaries together and bring about one of the biggest blessings for the country of Nicaragua; the Bethel community. I began wondering about all the pain and suffering many people experienced after the hurricane in 1998; imagining the thoughts that were going throught their minds at the time. That's when Christ revealed to me 1st Peter 4:12, "Beloved do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. I remembered all the individuals I encountered and formed relationships with in Bethel; no matter what they're were facing throughout their day or even the circumstances from the past, they were always loving and gave glory to the Lord. You could see a sense of relief and contentment after surviving one of the most traumatic events of their lifetime. I felt blessed to form relations within this community and the kids always gave a smile to my face because of their joy for the Lord. It's amazing how God gathered a group of missionaries together, forming Vision Nicaragua and then sending them out to build several homes and communities throughout the country. The people of this community praised God for each and every moment of the day by their actions and not just words. It was interesting to see that once the community was built, many family members were able to stay united and connected within close proximity of one another. One problem this community did face, was the deaths of their males age 35-45 from the Sugarcane fields. These men were dying from the combination of pesticides being used on the Sugarcane and unhealthy diets because of the rigors and time consumption of the job. I've talked to many Widows within the community and they would always showcase their faith of God bringing change within the Sugarcane Industry. They knew without a doubt because of their faith in the Lord, that this was another hurdle they would have to fight as a unit to continue being uplifted by our Heavenly Father. I thank God for the opportunity to work with the Bethel community and for the love/ joy the Bethel community brought us. I ask everyone to continue praying for them and God bless you all!!
It's interesting how God works and the amazing wonders he does in our lives each day; even the people you cross paths with is breathtaking. I wanted to share a little bit about my brother in Christ, Junior, who I met in Nicaragua. Junior is an inspirational man of God, whose testimony is touching many lives in America, Nicaragua and eventually many parts of this world. I met Junior at the Vision Nicaragua living facility at the beginning of April. I would describe Junior as funny, passionate, down to earth, joyful and a man whose seeking the Lord with his all. Junior is from Asheville, NC and was lead to Nicaragua through a boss of his who is an owner of a Furniture store in Asheville. Junior grew up in a family oriented household, but he experienced many difficulties throughout his life and faced many attacks from Satan. He explained how his parents were alot older and pretty much gave him free will to do whatever he wanted when growing up. He was troubled and hung around the wrong crowd as a teenager, but he always mentioned his parents praying over him at home for his life to be changed through Christ. He knew about Christ and went to Church from time to time, but he didn't have the relationship with Christ he desired. After experiencing more trials throughtout highschool and into his early twenties, Junior knew that he had to get his life together with God, but didn't no where to begin. Junior stated being unemployed for quite some time and all of sudden, God sent a good samaritan into his life. The gentleman was an owner of a furniture store whose main mission in life was to serve God and to counsel anyone God had called him to speak to on a daily basis. Junior stated hanging out with his buddies often, being exhausted from the party scene he was living and wanted to make changes in his life for God. The owner was only serving the Lord and he knew that God called him to take an interest in Junior's life because he was chosen for God's kingdom. Junior explained there would be days where he would be at home partaking in past indulgences he wanted to get away from and the boss would call to invite him to Church. Junior began going to the owner's Church and after only being there for a couple of weeks, the Church asked who would like to go on a mission trip to Nicaragua. Junior stated feeling at a moments notice that He was called for this trip, but didn't know how to achieve the funds. The owner reminded him that it was covered and he only needed to gain a passport to leave with the mission group. Junior stated the trip was of the best experiences of his life; being able to work alongside the Church, Vision Nicaragua and allowing God to use him to make a difference in many lives in Nicaragua. Junior returned to the U.S. to work with the owner and continued going through further deliverance from God. Junior stated feeling empty in the U.S. and knew that going back to NIcaragua, he would feel alive in Christ like before. Junior experienced this feeling because God had a calling for his life in missions, but he continued to live his life the way he wanted. Finally, Junior had another opportunity to leave for Nicaragua this past March with other members from the Church. Junior remembered on the last days of his mission trip, sitting around talking to others regarding their stay in Nicaragua. Junior stated, "When it was his time to talk, the only thing going through his mind was that he didn't want to go back to the U.S." Junior ended up staying in Nicaragua and has continued to do missions with Vision NIcaragua till this day. I was honored, thrilled to be able to form a relationship and be around an enrougaging man of God as himself on this trip. Junior is a blessing to the Bethel commuinty, the Vision Nicaragua Mission Program, the World Racers, but overall God. Junior is continuing to grow in Christ and has his eyes set to go wherever the Lord is calling him for the rest of his days here on earth. My brother in Christ would always say, "If God could change my life the way he did, then he can change anyone's life." I ask everyone to continue to pray for my brother that God gives him direction wherever he goes in this world. God bless you all!!
It's been awhile since the last blog, but it's great to have the opportunity to share with you some of things God is showing us all here on the World Race. Have you ever wondered how it would feel to live within minutes of a Trash Dump site? Have you ever wondered how it would feel to scramble for Trash just so your family could have food on the table ? These are some of the questions I had pondering around my head the night I worked with three other squadmates at the Dump site in Trujillo, Peru. We worked with a gentleman who was very humble and had lived at the trash site for many years. The economy of Trujillo is suffering, if not more than many parts of the world and many people here don't have the opportunities to find stable employment to support their family members. I begin thinking how many of us would turn away from even the thought of collecting trash for financial gain in a matter of seconds; but for our buddy we worked alongside with one late evening in Peru, this was his life to provide for his family members. We linked up with our friend at his house around 10pm and begin working at the trash site around midnight. He worked the latenight shift, waiting for various dump trucks from various areas of Trujillo to bring in the necessary materials needed to exchange for cash (cardboard, plastic bottles/containers, metals, etc.). The workers were out there 30 minutes at a time picking through fecal matter, dead animals, food waste and other forms of trash with their bare hands. I begin thinking about all the times in my life I complained about things and seeing these workers giving their all to seek all necessary materials for their family members and love ones, made me think why are we so selfish in this world? What really touched my heart, was when our friend and other workers were scrambling with these long hoe-like tools for trash bags as they were being dumped from the trucks onto the ground. You could just see the intensity on each person's face giving their all to search through as many trash bags as possible to find the wanted materials. We worked everytime a dump truck would come in to dump trash and conversed with our friend about his life during our breaks. The most inspirational thing about this guy, was his heart for the Lord. He talked about the sickness of one of his daughters and how he wasn't able to provide for her operation. He stated not being sure where to go or where to get the money for his daughter's operation and begin praying to the Lord for help. God provided for his daughter's operation one night after he found a stash of money in the one of the trash bags. I begin thinking how God blessed this gentleman and the example he lead in his actions; the bible says in Matthew 6: 19-21, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be." Our friend worked this job because he was willing to lay down his life for his family, but most importantly for the Lord. He is a servant of all and if he needed to work at a trash site to provide for his family members, he would do it with a smile because he knows all Glory goes to God. God bless you all!!
Once again I want to say THANKYOU for all of your support and prayers throughout my tour here on the race. Because of your support and prayers, I was able to raise over $3,500 within the last 10 days to continue my tour on the race. My squad traveled from Peru to Nicaragua about week ago and we're still going strong in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ across the nations. I truly feel blessed and honored to represent Christ and the AIM organization while i'm here on the race. I didn't meet the deadline on March 30th of $10,000 and now my account stands at $9,246. God has given me a chance to continue working here on the race and I appreciate everyone for praying for my squad, my team and my self. I was told that I have until Monday, 04/11/10 to reach my deadline of $10,000 or my tour of the race will end. I just posted another blog regarding our ministry in Peru and I pray that you all would be patient with me as there are more to come. I'm currently in Nicaragua and I just want to say that God is so good. Two teams from our squad are working with a community name Bethel, which is predominantly Christian, but God has called us to this community to build stronger relationships with them in Christ and encourage them to go beyond their boundaries and preach the gospel in Nicaragua. The people here are so beautiful and kind; they bring peace and smiles to our faces daily. Just recently, our teams performed a prophetic dance with the teens of the Church and I have to say, it was certainly a blessing to witness the joy God brought to the community and the Church that night. I'll be honest with everyone, I know now after being on this race after four months that I will be doing missions or ministries for the rest of my life. God called me to this trip for a specific reason and I'm blessed to be used for his Kingdom. One thing I learned in the past three months is that we are called to be a servant of all. The bible states, spoken by Jesus in Mark 9:43-45, "Yet it shall not be so among you: but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. "And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave to all. "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." God has broken me down on this trip of my selfish desires, pride, fear and is still continuing to do more. The people of this world are so beautiful and I pray everyone who reads this blog gets a chance to experience some of things my squad and I have experienced on this race. I cannot THANK YOU all enough for the support in keeping me here on this race; it's not about me anyways, it's all for God's glory. I'm just the vessel who was used to serve all of mankind while being here on this race. I must raise $750 more dollars by monday to stay on the race and I must raise $5,000 more dollars to be fully funded at $14,300 to finish the race. I'm asking everyone to continue praying for my squad, my team/myself and if God shows you something through my blogs, my encounters or simply the need of the world being reached, I simply ask for your support on my website at the support me link or the information enclosed in my previous blog. Thanks to all who have supported every man and woman on this race and most importantly, thank you for your prayers to the Lord for allowing the holy spirit to move in our lives for all of mankind. Blessings and God bless you all!!
It's the end of March and this month is by far the fastest of the first three months here on the race. My squad was assigned to Trujillo, Peru this month and my team was given the task of building bricks for a children's housing ministry site to those children who are less fortunate, painting the future house of a host Missionary Family and fertilizing corn to help facilitate numerous other mission capabilities. My team has also evangelized in the surrounding area of a nearby Church and we visited a local daycare weekly to form relationships with those children who live in impoverished conditions in Trujillo, Peru. I remember beginning the project of brickmaking and was astonished to see how clay bricks were formulated over time. Our tour of making bricks was not as difficult as I expected. We worked alongside of our host contact's friend Jose. Jose was truly an experienced brickmaker and certainly an awesome man of God. He told us he had been doing clay bricks for over five years and you could definitely see the passion he had in making every single brick. This man really resembled what it means to a be a servant of God. The first step in making bricks, was to begin digging up regular soil deep enough to create a pit and long enough create a rectangular shape. The soil we dug up was usually thrown on the sides of our rectangular shape pit to be used for mixing with a hardened clay dirt brought in from elsewhere. The second step, was to begin mixing the regular soil dirt with the hardened clay dirt within the rectangular pit. Once the dirt was high enough, Jose would release water from a huge water basin into the pit to form a muddy clay mixture. The girls of our team, would step on the dirt to decrease the size of hardened clay mass and to maintain the mixture of all dry dirt until it formed a playdoh like clay mass. The third step, would be to shovel the muddy playdoh like mix onto a tarp before making the actual brick molds. Once the clay mixture was on top of the tarp, we would let it sit for a day before beginning the molding process. The fourth step, would be to grab two hands full of the muddy clay mixture and roll it up into the size of a small to medium size soccer ball. Once the ball the has been formed, we would take a wooden brick mold box broken into four portions, meaning four bricks and place the mud inside of the mold, smoothing out the top edges to make four separate bricks. The wooden brick mold box would be turned upside down on the ground and placed with other bricks to dry out in the sun. Once the bricks were dry, we would place them into a wall formation to wait until more were created over the time. On one occassion, while we were making more bricks, God began showing me a correlation between the brickmaking and our lives in Christ. God created man from dirt and God created us all in his image. Throughout our lives we are constantly piling dirt onto ourselves like the dirt being piled in the pit. We do this before seeking Christ because we're constantly trying to fill our fleshly desires with many things from this world; thinking the more we have in this world, the better our lives will become. In the brickmaking process, you can pile dirt on top of each other all day long, but you'll never be able to create a brick unless you add water to make the claylike dough. This water is the holy spirit which enters our lives and begans to transform us inwardly and outwardly. The bible states in John 7:38, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." The mixture of the dirt and water in the brickmaking process, is the same process when Christ begans to mold us into what he created us to be once we received his holy spirit. From the day we are born, God sees us as the brick; we'll never be able to see ourselves as the brick until we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior; which is the living water that allows us to discern what is of God and what is not of God here on earth. When water is added to the dirt, the rocky portions of the dirt are dissolved into a smooth, playdough like texture. When the holy spirit enters our lives, we began to experience a softness in our hearts; we're able to pour out love from God to others, we develop a gentleness, kindness and faithfulness that we could never experience in this lifetime if we never received his living water. It's amazing how as human beings, we always choose the path of difficulties in life because of our selfish nature and selfish desires; this is very similar to the brickmaking process, if we were to pour clumps of dirt into the brick molding box, the brick would fall apart because it doesn't have any living water to keep it bonded together. The river of flowing water is always available in our lives; it's up to us to choose rather we'll go through life without a purpose like a pile of dirt or choose to transform into a new creation like when water is added to dirt. Once the brick has been completed, the bricks are added alongside other bricks to form a wall. This wall is the community in which Christ calls us to live our lives. A wall cannot stand if it has missing bricks in it; this compares to our spiritual life when we don't fellowship with one another. Christ called us to be one body and one unit. Everyone in this world has gifts and talents that they may share to benefit all creation on earth as a whole. Once the brick is formed, it's up to all mankind to continue building a wall spreading across all nations on earth. Someone may ask, why is this even important? The bible states in Philippians 3:20, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we so eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." When flowing water is added into our lives, we begin to realize that we're not of this world and the only way to survive in this world before Christ's return, is to become the brick he destined us to be and began to help build the wall, which is fortified for all mankind. Why? Because of the love he has for all mankind; his love for us is greater than any love you'll ever find on earth. God bless you all and I pray we all fight to become that brick!!
