Lock, Load, Pray

   Last week Dustin organized a dinner and prayer + worship night for the Mexico trip. We had dinner together as a team (tacos...heck yea) and then talked about what we wanted prayer for. we prayed a little as a team, then later went to the church with a bunch of other Fellowship Church people and we prayed for our trip and for the nations in general and for our hearts as a church.

   I love that our team is so willing to listen to the Spirit's leading. The conversations we're having are not merely intellectual and emotional... the work we do, the seeds we sow, the battle we fight is a spiritual one and if we are not spiritually armed; our victory, though assured, will be lessened for it. Many of our team members have been under spiritual attack in these weeks leading to the trip.

   After listing the "full armor of God" in Ephesians, Paul exhorts the readers to "pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." (6:18) So, essentially Paul says to prepare for battle and then...pray. Prayer is part of how we fight this good fight of faith. It isn't an afterthought or a side-note or a tradition. It's a big deal.

   My prayer is that in all of our obstacles, fears, insecurities, doubts and even seemingly non-related things that threaten to derail us; we would remember and rely on God and his character.

Training Day (without denzel washington)

Saturday was our full-day training for the trip; we met in the church office and ate together and went over prayer and prep and evangelism and stuff.

Pastor Rodger put me in charge, but it went smoothly and i had a good time. H.E.B. sells Coke from Mexico, so i brought a few and i've been craving them ever since.

I really enjoyed getting to just hang out with all the team together. We have a great team dynamic and i am now officially super excited to see how God uses our personalities together in Monterrey.

nuestro equipo

So, it's set..we're going to Mexico.. we've got the tickets purchased and the team assembled. We're just raising money and doing some small training things... Our team rocks, by the way:

Me
So, I'm leading the team this year, but since it's a small team i'm much less worried. I'm...well, you can read all about me in my profile junk -->

Sheryl S
Sheryl was my teammate this past summer in Mexico. She's really good at building relationships and making people feel unconditionally loved. She's also got a troublemaking sense of humor, which fits in perfectly in the Mexico church

Moji Olokode
Moji is one of the leaders in my homegroup. She's a senior this year and has a gentle spirit with a little sarcasm thrown in. She's often very quiet, but speaks amazing truth into people's lives and has a very powerful, though quiet, strength.

Ana Gonzalez
Ana is our resident Longhorn. She moved to College Station following the Lord's leading after she graduated. She has a very passionate spirit and loves people unreservedly. Her family is Salvadoran and she's fluent in Spanish, which will rock.

Dustin Hirner
I don't know Dustin very well, but even though he is our youngest team member, he has an air of confidence and one just feels comfortabe talking to him. He's passionate about the Lord and what he wants to do in the world. I'm really excited to have him on the trip and get to know him better.

Chrissy Alvarez
I also don't know Chrissy very well, but she is super involved in her homegroup and always seems to be smiling and surrounded by people who are also smiling. She loves Jesus and his people and seems to connect well with everyone she meets; I'm looking forward to getting to know her better and am gad she's with us.

Our team is a wonderful combination of giftings, personalities and passions. I am really excited to see how God uses us this year in Monterrey. I know he's brought everyone onto this team for a very good reason and this trip is gonna be amazing.