So yeah this blog is about Mexico but there will be time when I blog about what's going on in my heart or life outside of Mexico and the mission there. While I've been planning and fundraising, God's been doing a lot of work on my heart and is showing me parts of my life that I need to change. I realized this past week that even though I thought I had a good relationship with God, my heart is not right towards God at all.
It all started out with a coffee date that I had planned with a friend last week to catch up on life and chat. Well friday came and due to a series of events I just didn't have the time to sit and have coffee that day. When i saw him the next day I felt awful about cancelling on him and apologized over and over saying that I was sorry and that I promised to make it up sometime.
Thinking back on this situation makes me realize how far away my heart is from where it should be. When I have a busy day and forget to fit in a quiet time do I apologize over and over and make it up? Or do I just go on with my daily life and maybe for a second feel bad about not having a quiet time but then move right on with the next thing on my to-do list? I'm sad to sad that far too often I just take advantage of God's grace and say that He will love me even if I don't have a quiet time that day. If my priorities were right I would drop everything and spend time with my Lord and Savior but I'm human and still put myself first.
So I challenge you to think about this. We have an amazing God who wants to have a relationship with us! John 17:3 says "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." All that we need to do is know Him so I ask you this... how much do you really know and love Jesus?
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
New plans are taking place...
IT'S OFFICIAL!!! We are still going to Juarez! This is going to be quite an adventure to say the least! We are not interns anymore so our summers look very different now...
First I'll introduce my team... Well there are 4 of us total going down for the whole summer: Kevin, Aimee, David, and Me. I would introduce them more but considering I haven't even met them yet I can't really say much about them other than they love Jesus and love Juarez and have really big hearts for the people there. That in itself makes me really excited to be on a team with them this summer! Because there are so few of us, it is going to be a summer full of really hard work for the four of us. We are going to be building "single" houses all summer long, which are 11' by 20' with two rooms that can house up to a family of 5 people. Casas typically asks for groups of 12-18 people to come down to build a "single"... as you can see we are just a few people short...
However, we may have people come join us for builds! If you have some time this summer and would like to come help us out please let me know. We LOVE seeing people whose lives are changed by a week in Mexico! The cost of joining a build for a week is $500... that may sound like a lot of money but sending out some support letters and explaining the need of the people can help raise that money.
Our plan... We are leaving May 13th as originally planned and our first two weeks we will get to receive the training we would have received as interns, this way we are able to lead groups if Casas ever needs us down the road. After that we are going to build a house every week until we run out of money (we are praying so hard that that is not the case though and that we will be able to build all summer long). Once the house is built every week we are going to volunteer at orphanages and play with the kids and find organizations around El Paso that could use a helping hand. Saturdays will be our day to rest and relax and then Sundays will be a day for church and getting ready for the next week's build.
So we have people, we have a plan, now we need support. It costs us $5,000 to build one house and have food and gas for the week. As of right now we have around $18,000 which is enough for us to build 3 houses. Our goal is to raise around $50,000 so that we are able to build a house per week the whole summer long and maybe even get crazy towards the end and build 2 or maybe even 3 houses per week (keep in mind that we are gonna be pros at building by this point)! However, this whole plan is based on having the money to buy the supplies. We are young and capable and ready to build. If you have a heart for Mexico and want to help but don't have the time or are anxious about the violence we ask you to help us out by supporting us financially and seeing your money put to work. If you know anyone who may be interested in supporting us, I would love to get their contact information and tell them about the mission.
There are two ways to donate to our mission this summer...
One is to go to http://www.casasporcristo.org/give.html and there is a link to donate online. If you choose to donate, under "Program Area" choose "trip payment" and put INTERN BUILD in the comments box so that Casas knows to put the money towards our fund.
The second is to write a check to Casas Por Cristo and put INTERN BUILD in the memo line and send it to
Casas por Cristo
First I'll introduce my team... Well there are 4 of us total going down for the whole summer: Kevin, Aimee, David, and Me. I would introduce them more but considering I haven't even met them yet I can't really say much about them other than they love Jesus and love Juarez and have really big hearts for the people there. That in itself makes me really excited to be on a team with them this summer! Because there are so few of us, it is going to be a summer full of really hard work for the four of us. We are going to be building "single" houses all summer long, which are 11' by 20' with two rooms that can house up to a family of 5 people. Casas typically asks for groups of 12-18 people to come down to build a "single"... as you can see we are just a few people short...
However, we may have people come join us for builds! If you have some time this summer and would like to come help us out please let me know. We LOVE seeing people whose lives are changed by a week in Mexico! The cost of joining a build for a week is $500... that may sound like a lot of money but sending out some support letters and explaining the need of the people can help raise that money.
Our plan... We are leaving May 13th as originally planned and our first two weeks we will get to receive the training we would have received as interns, this way we are able to lead groups if Casas ever needs us down the road. After that we are going to build a house every week until we run out of money (we are praying so hard that that is not the case though and that we will be able to build all summer long). Once the house is built every week we are going to volunteer at orphanages and play with the kids and find organizations around El Paso that could use a helping hand. Saturdays will be our day to rest and relax and then Sundays will be a day for church and getting ready for the next week's build.
So we have people, we have a plan, now we need support. It costs us $5,000 to build one house and have food and gas for the week. As of right now we have around $18,000 which is enough for us to build 3 houses. Our goal is to raise around $50,000 so that we are able to build a house per week the whole summer long and maybe even get crazy towards the end and build 2 or maybe even 3 houses per week (keep in mind that we are gonna be pros at building by this point)! However, this whole plan is based on having the money to buy the supplies. We are young and capable and ready to build. If you have a heart for Mexico and want to help but don't have the time or are anxious about the violence we ask you to help us out by supporting us financially and seeing your money put to work. If you know anyone who may be interested in supporting us, I would love to get their contact information and tell them about the mission.
There are two ways to donate to our mission this summer...
One is to go to http://www.casasporcristo.org/give.html and there is a link to donate online. If you choose to donate, under "Program Area" choose "trip payment" and put INTERN BUILD in the comments box so that Casas knows to put the money towards our fund.
The second is to write a check to Casas Por Cristo and put INTERN BUILD in the memo line and send it to
Casas por Cristo
PO Box 971070
El Paso, TX 79997
All donations are in fact tax-deductible!
Whether you choose to support us financially or not I ask that you support us in prayer. I try to end every blog post with what prayer is on my heart at the time. Prayer is something that is becoming increasingly more important to me. Matthew 7:7 says "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." If we ask earnestly to the Lord, and it is in His will, then he will give us what we ask for.
So here I am asking you and asking God to help bring in the support we need in order show the love of Jesus Christ all summer long through building homes for families in need.
Pray~ That God bring in the money and gives us the physical strength to be able to build all summer long.
P.S.!!! A church in El Paso will match every dollar raised through the month of April up to the cost of a house! If we raise the money for one house then they'll provide the money for a whole second house!!! If you are thinking about donating but only have a few dollars if you do it soon your money will be doubled and you can help twice as much!!!
All donations are in fact tax-deductible!
Whether you choose to support us financially or not I ask that you support us in prayer. I try to end every blog post with what prayer is on my heart at the time. Prayer is something that is becoming increasingly more important to me. Matthew 7:7 says "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." If we ask earnestly to the Lord, and it is in His will, then he will give us what we ask for.
So here I am asking you and asking God to help bring in the support we need in order show the love of Jesus Christ all summer long through building homes for families in need.
Pray~ That God bring in the money and gives us the physical strength to be able to build all summer long.
P.S.!!! A church in El Paso will match every dollar raised through the month of April up to the cost of a house! If we raise the money for one house then they'll provide the money for a whole second house!!! If you are thinking about donating but only have a few dollars if you do it soon your money will be doubled and you can help twice as much!!!
What is Casas Por Cristo?
So I haven't really explained what Casas Por Cristo is and I want people to know my whole heart and purpose for going down there so here we go...
Casas Por Cristo is an organization that show's God's love through providing homes to families in need.The first Casas home was built in 1993 in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and since has expanded to Ciudad Acuna, Mexico and San Raimundo, Guatemala. Over 4,000 homes have been built over the past 18 years. The organization only provides the means by which these houses can be built; it is through thousands of volunteer groups raising money for the building supplies and coming down to do the labor that these families are able to receive new homes. It takes only four days for an empty lot to be turned into a home!
The Casas Por Cristo website is www.casasporcristo.org in case you may be interested in putting together a group for a trip or want to know more information about Casas. I also would LOVE to answer any questions and talk about what going on trips through Casas has done for my life!
Casas Por Cristo is an organization that show's God's love through providing homes to families in need.The first Casas home was built in 1993 in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and since has expanded to Ciudad Acuna, Mexico and San Raimundo, Guatemala. Over 4,000 homes have been built over the past 18 years. The organization only provides the means by which these houses can be built; it is through thousands of volunteer groups raising money for the building supplies and coming down to do the labor that these families are able to receive new homes. It takes only four days for an empty lot to be turned into a home!
Here is a video from Casas Por Cristo that shows the need for
good homes in Juarez and shows a Casas house being built.
The Casas Por Cristo website is www.casasporcristo.org in case you may be interested in putting together a group for a trip or want to know more information about Casas. I also would LOVE to answer any questions and talk about what going on trips through Casas has done for my life!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Why my heart cries out...
Yes, I'm posting twice in like 20 minutes. Probably because Mexico is all that I can think about right now. I think I'm going to start posting pictures of Mexico and of my previous experiences so that you can see into my heart for Mexico
God just threw us a curveball
So I haven't written in a while because there was really nothing to write about. I've been slowly buying everything I need to go down there, getting my intern information in the mail, looking for flights home for the summer, etc.
Well yesterday my life was thrown a little curveball. Around noon I was just going along my merry little way, waiting in line for some free Red Mango, when I got the call. It was from Janette, the intern manager from Casas, telling me that the intern program would be cancelled for the summer. Wait, What? Yup, definitely my first thought process. There just weren't enough teams signed up this year for us to have work when we got down there. This year around 150 teams signed up to come build. This is down from 200 last summer, and way down from 2007 when Casas was able to provide houses to over 400 families!
My first reaction was to cry, well more like have a complete breakdown. Then I said a short prayer to my father in heaven then picked up the phone again and made a call to my daddy. Through that conversation came questions, lots of questions... What am I gonna do this summer? What do I do with the money that's already been raised? Am I really trusting God in all of this? The answer to the last was was that initially I was not trusting God at all. Actually that's putting it lightly. I was angry at God. I was really really mad at Him. I was confused with how He made a spot for Juarez in my heart and He took away an opportunity where I would be able to show God's love through serving His people.
So as I'm sitting on campus having a pity party and wondering what God wants me to do this summer, it clicks. I am still being called to work with Casas this summer. However, it is not as an intern, it is as a team member. I knew that I have no other open doors in front of me right now; I turned down a camp counselor job to be an intern, I can't take classes with out it messing up my schedule later, if I go home I would just sit on the couch until I could hopefully find some job stocking shelves or waitressing. I already spent last summer working at a job that I HATED and I could spend another summer feeling worthless.
The plan begins.... sitting there in my state of confusion I check my e-mail and see I have a new message from Kevin, one of the other interns. he talked about how he wanted to make a team of us interns, raise money, and build houses all summer until we run out of money. Sounds crazy right? Yeah probably, but you know what? As Christians we are SUPPOSED to sound crazy to the world! We are not of this world and we should have an eternal mind set where we care more about people and showing them the love of Jesus than we care about people thinking that we are crazy. We serve a BIG God! A HUGE, GIGANTIC, ENORMOUS God who can do anything! We serve a God who can move mountains and stop the Jordan river dead in it's tracks and raise people from the dead! We definitely serve a God who can bring in $60,000 or so for a few 20-something-year-olds to spend their summer building houses for those in need!
The reality... as of this very second we have 3 interns who are on board for this plan and we need probably 2 more of us to join in for this to become a reality. Single houses cost $4,700 a piece to build and we are hoping to build them all summer long if this plan is carried though. We have the funds already to build 2 houses so the plan is to start with those two and hopefully have the money to continue once those are finished or just pack up and drive back home if we don't. Bascially, I still don't have set plans this summer but things are starting to come together for me and the other interns to still go to Mexico.
Pray~ That first and foremost we listen to God's plan for our lives. That if it's in His plan, we are able to get enough people to have the man-power to build all summer. That God will provide money for project costs, housing, food, gas, and other expenses along the way. That we not do this in vain but keep God in the center of this whole process.
Well yesterday my life was thrown a little curveball. Around noon I was just going along my merry little way, waiting in line for some free Red Mango, when I got the call. It was from Janette, the intern manager from Casas, telling me that the intern program would be cancelled for the summer. Wait, What? Yup, definitely my first thought process. There just weren't enough teams signed up this year for us to have work when we got down there. This year around 150 teams signed up to come build. This is down from 200 last summer, and way down from 2007 when Casas was able to provide houses to over 400 families!
My first reaction was to cry, well more like have a complete breakdown. Then I said a short prayer to my father in heaven then picked up the phone again and made a call to my daddy. Through that conversation came questions, lots of questions... What am I gonna do this summer? What do I do with the money that's already been raised? Am I really trusting God in all of this? The answer to the last was was that initially I was not trusting God at all. Actually that's putting it lightly. I was angry at God. I was really really mad at Him. I was confused with how He made a spot for Juarez in my heart and He took away an opportunity where I would be able to show God's love through serving His people.
So as I'm sitting on campus having a pity party and wondering what God wants me to do this summer, it clicks. I am still being called to work with Casas this summer. However, it is not as an intern, it is as a team member. I knew that I have no other open doors in front of me right now; I turned down a camp counselor job to be an intern, I can't take classes with out it messing up my schedule later, if I go home I would just sit on the couch until I could hopefully find some job stocking shelves or waitressing. I already spent last summer working at a job that I HATED and I could spend another summer feeling worthless.
The plan begins.... sitting there in my state of confusion I check my e-mail and see I have a new message from Kevin, one of the other interns. he talked about how he wanted to make a team of us interns, raise money, and build houses all summer until we run out of money. Sounds crazy right? Yeah probably, but you know what? As Christians we are SUPPOSED to sound crazy to the world! We are not of this world and we should have an eternal mind set where we care more about people and showing them the love of Jesus than we care about people thinking that we are crazy. We serve a BIG God! A HUGE, GIGANTIC, ENORMOUS God who can do anything! We serve a God who can move mountains and stop the Jordan river dead in it's tracks and raise people from the dead! We definitely serve a God who can bring in $60,000 or so for a few 20-something-year-olds to spend their summer building houses for those in need!
The reality... as of this very second we have 3 interns who are on board for this plan and we need probably 2 more of us to join in for this to become a reality. Single houses cost $4,700 a piece to build and we are hoping to build them all summer long if this plan is carried though. We have the funds already to build 2 houses so the plan is to start with those two and hopefully have the money to continue once those are finished or just pack up and drive back home if we don't. Bascially, I still don't have set plans this summer but things are starting to come together for me and the other interns to still go to Mexico.
Pray~ That first and foremost we listen to God's plan for our lives. That if it's in His plan, we are able to get enough people to have the man-power to build all summer. That God will provide money for project costs, housing, food, gas, and other expenses along the way. That we not do this in vain but keep God in the center of this whole process.
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