By Katie Matthews

My 10 month old daughter, Ashtyn, has learned to crawl. She gets into everything. Drawers, dog food dishes, trash cans, everything. I pick her up to remove her from said area or object and what does she do, crawl back to find out what exactly is in the trash can. She is
persistent. She perseveres. She is relentless and she wears her mom out. However, I admire her spirit and tenacity to keep going. This
persistence has caused me to reflect on my character and my actions. Am I persistent in areas where persistence is needed? Do I keep going when things get hard, when attacks come my way?

In 1 Peter the author, Peter is writing a letter to Christians who are facing major persecution for their faith, Christians who are refusing to rebel against God and are being mocked and opposed for their actions.

Peter writes, “But if you’re treated badly for good behavior and continue in spite of it to be a good servant, that is what counts with God,” 1 Peter 2:20 MSG. This year has been difficult. Attacks have come our way, hardships have been had, however have we persisted knowing what we are doing is for His good. But it is hard to press on. Sometimes those personal attacks can take their toll and it is easier to listen to what others say then to hold fast to the truths of His word.

Are you going through a desert season, doubting what you are doing? If God has convicted you to keep going then, you must persist, you must endure. Even if we never see the harvest or the fruit of our labor, we must persist because it is what He has called us to do, for His glory.

By Mayra Duran

What kind of movies or tv shows do you like the most? Drama, comedy, science fiction…What’s your favorite? I have to admit that medieval fantasy is one of my favorite genres. My mind is transported to another place thinking about these stories with swords, castles, armor, and battles. This year, one of my favorite shows aired one of the best episodes in television history. To film 60 of the most intense minutes of the season the producers had a $30 million budget, 25 days to film with a crew of 600 people. As well, besides the regular actors in the show, they needed 500 extras, 80 horses, 25 stunt doubles, and 4 camera crews. Yes, all of this was used to create a fictional, final epic battle on TV.

However, the bible tells us of TRUE stories about battles with huge armies that took place centuries ago. Without a doubt that battle that always surprises me is that of Gideon’s army against the Midianites (You can find the entire story in Judges chapters 6-8).

After reading about Gideon and being reminded about the tv show that I shared about above, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Gideon was able to defeat an army of 135,000 people with only 300 men. How!? It seems impossible but we find the answer in Judges 6:16 where God spoke with Gideon and said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

Today we don’t really encounter real armies like Gideon. The battles that we fight in our lives are different ones. But just like Gideon, who are you trusting to win your battles? I don’t know the battles that you are fighting, or how big the armies are that you are encountering, but I know who is in charge of your army and that God is the one who is with you. It doesn’t matter if you encounter an army the same size as the Midianites. If you trust in God, just as Gideon did, God will fight the battle for you and His strategy is 1,000 times better than yours.

“Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.”                                                                             -2 Chronicles 20:15b

By Karlita Gomez

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”- Philippians 1:6 (ESV)

Have you ever made something using legos or K’nex? If you’ve never had the pleasure of doing this, I strongly encourage you to go to the nearest store and find one of these kits. If you are a child in an adult’s body, like me, you could enjoy hours with this diversion and disconnect from the day to day pressures. With my husband Sammy, we love to make things with Legos. Those that know me know that my cell phone case is a lego case. Those that have visited our house know that we own several lego cars and roller coasters, among other similar items. Every time that we sit down to start a new lego project the first step is to separate all of the pieces and put them in different piles. The second step is to have the instructions ready, which you can find on the internet if you don’t have them. The third step is to put on some good music and begin your adventure. You should definitely have patience because this can take you days to finish, but at the end it’s worth the effort and time that you put into it.

One time I had the opportunity to watch Sammy put a car back together that had already been put together once, but for some reason he had take it apart. While watching this, I feel like God was teaching me something. We are able to see in the photo on the box the finished product, but inside there are only pieces. We know that all of these pieces will go together to make the finished product that you bought. IN the same way, God, who knows our future, has the knowledge of the finished product that we are. He is the one that is taking us apart and putting us back together with all that is happening around us…Every situation, event, opportunity. Nothing happens by accident. God has the control of every thing. He has never lost it, though at times it may feel like things don’t make sense. He is still in control and he know that finsihed product.

You may run into different pieces of different sizes, colors, and textures. Some are beautiful, others not so much. Many times you have no idea where it goes or really why it’s necessary, but in the process you are surprised at how every piece has its place. In the same way every situation in our lives fits perfectly with God’s design. Sometimes the situation is happy, other times it’s painful, but it’s always necessary for the final design that God has in mind for us. It’s not about the pieces, rather it’s about the designer. Us with our human minds can’t understand nor imagine the finished product that we will be when we meet Jesus, but we are able to have confidence and constantly remember that it’s Him who has control and knows our future. It’s Him who is working in our lives. We won’t always be an unfinished product, imperfect and weak. The design that God has had in mind for us since the beginning will come to be. He will continue until His work is completely finished. It’s not about us…It’s about HIM!

By Katey Erickson

The past three weeks we have had a “summer” camp for the kids in the village as they are on vacation from school. The purpose of each activity that we planned for them during camp has been to encourage critical and creative thinking. Some of the activities also encourage teamwork. It’s been amazing to watch the kids think and learn as they are playing, cooking, or creating art.

I wanted to use camp to encourage critical and creative thinking for two reasons.

Number 1 – because these are not things that are normally taught in the public school in the village. Most of the work they do is rote memorization, copying and pasting basically, and some of the kids really struggle with thinking for themselves.

Number 2 – because when someone learns to think critically and creatively they can begin to do so in all areas of their life, including their spiritual life. If I want to encourage kids to truly interact on a deep level with God and His word but they don’t know how to think critically or creatively then it’s going to be a struggle. I don’t want their interaction with the Bible and God to be rote memorization and repetition of what their pastor says. I want them to truly think through their faith and have conversations with God and His word.

As I’ve been interacting with the kids as they learn to think more critically and creatively I’ve been challenged to think more critically and creatively myself. Not just in the camp activities but in all areas of my life. I’ve been more motivated to create art, read, analyze, etc. And it’s impacted my spiritual life too. I’ve had more of a desire to creatively connect with God, to draw my prayers, and to use photography to capture what He is teaching me. I’ve also had more of a desire to study God’s word and to really go deep and struggle through the questions I have about certain texts.

Do you think creatively and critically throughout the day? Do you have creative and critical thinking outlets in your life? Do you creatively and critically interact with God and His word?

If not, how could you start?

By Jon Keehn

Late last week I had the opportunity to go with a short term missions group that we were hosting on their travel/tourist day. These types of days are usually pretty relaxing and full of fun, as was this one. However as we were getting onto one of our boats our driver asked me if I would stand at the front of the boat and help watch out for trash and debris that might be in our path and direct him to turn if we needed to maneuver away from debris. I gladly said yes as this was something that he has asked me to do several other times when we are going on longer boat trips.

As we were about and hour or so into the trip I had the thought that it was funny that we needed someone to look out for debris because most of the things we encountered were small pieces of trash that were of no significance. But then I thought that it was rather interesting that it was the larger pieces of debris that we had to be on the lookout for and how the larger debris would sometimes “hide” itself among the small and insignificant pieces of trash. This means that no matter the size of the trash/debris it was all significant.

At this point I couldn’t help but think about my life as a follower of Jesus and how this was a portrait of how I should look at the sin in my life. There may be some little or small stuff here and there that doesn’t seem important but when I let those small things go unchecked for any amount of time it’s almost a sure thing that some larger piece of debris is going to hide itself among the “insignificant” junk in my life. Even more, as I was standing at the front of the boat diligently on the lookout for debris, I couldn’t just ignore the small stuff because there could have been something bigger hiding amongst it.

You may not be responsible for being on the lookout for other people, but you most definitely are responsible for looking for the junk and sin in your own life. How do you guard yourself from letting the small “stuff” become large pieces of debris that can wreck you? The amazing part is that when it comes the finding the sin in our lives we aren’t alone. Just as I was helping our boat driver watch for debris, we have been promised that the Holy Spirit will help us see our sin so that we may repent and turn away from it back to Jesus. How are you asking the Holy Spirit to help you see and convict you of the sin in your life?